Something that we're not
by lexiepedia
Summary: "So when are we leaving?" "What are you on about though-guy?" "You are going home with me tonight" "is that so?" "Yeah and I always get what I want. And tonight I want you Beautiful!" Coming home after six months overseas only to find that your hot one night stand you from last night is your new neighbour is not the welcome home Charlie expected. a Chax-story
1. Trailer

**Hi guys! Somehow my story Crazy and Stupid has disappeared from my page, can't find it anywhere it's gone I'm afraid. And with me just having bought a new computer cause my old one crashed, all the files and previous chapters are gone so I can't re-post it... :(**

**And I don't have the energy to try and rewrite it so instead I'm gonna start on one of the new ones I promised you! XX Lexie**

**New Story - Something that we're not**

Detective Charlie Holden has been overseas for the past 6 months and the night before she's expected home she stays in the city to go out with her friends. Out in the Club she meets a man named Brax that stirs her interest.  
The next day Brax wakes up in his hotel-room alone and it bugs him that a woman treated him just the same as he used to treat them and he just can't forget about the gorgeous woman that intrigued him to no end.

Charlie comes back to Summerbay in order to surprise her father and daughter but it's she who's in for a surprise. During the barbecue her family holds for her homecoming finds out that her father has gotten new neighbours and those neighbours are no other then the Braxton brothers...

The bay is hit with two-faced personalities, ghosts from the past and present enemies but also new found comfort-zones, love and heartache.


	2. Chapter 1 - Get what you want

Chapter one

Charlie's pov

Charlie was standing by a table with a drink in hand in one of her favourite nightclubs here in the city while watching her slightly drunk friends out on the dance-floor. She had a slight headache and wasn't really in the mood to be out partying after siting on a plane for eighteen hours, but she hadn't seen her friends here since she moved back to Summerbay after a few years as a cop in the city. So when she mentioned that her plane from Italy would be arriving here after she had been abroad for six months, they had immediately decided that she would be staying a night here with them before going home. So despite being tired she was actually enjoying it a bit.

Sam came strutting over in her high heels, swaying her hips to give the guy she left out on the dance-floor a good show with a satisfied smirk on her face. She plonked herself down in one of the high barstools around the table and grabbed Charlie's drink out of her hand.  
"God I needed that, he was such a bore. Either he had his tongue stuck in my ear or he was nagging it of by talking about soccer-teams. Like I give a flying rats about soccer-teams while I'm trying to get laid. Seriously!"

She couldn't contain her laughter, Sam always spoke her mind and her witty comebacks and trashtalks never failed to crack you up even on the worst of days at work. Her brutal honesty and trouble to keep her trot shut could also bring troubles and be slightly annoying, but she was the best partner she ever had. She didn't take anyones crap, gave as she got and she would never back down once she got something in her head, it could make even the toughest guys scared.  
Sam cooked her eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously over the rim of her glass.  
"What?! He was, no I have to find someone else to take home tonight. So how's your man-hunting going? Or are you to picky no that you have been spoiled with dashing men in suits at Wall-street and tanned, blue eyed Italians?"

Charlie just shook her head at her ex-partner and continued to look over the room that was so filled with people it was hard to tell what they looked like.  
The girls had somehow gotten it into them that the six months she had spent traveling the world had been a sleep-with-a-man-in-every-country kinda trip. Sure there had been a few but hardly as many as they thought there had been. It really had been a trip for her to let go and clear her head.  
She had been in every place she had ever wanted to visit, she had been in Thailand, Japan, the U.S, Italy, France, Greece... you name it and it had done her a lot of good. She could finally sleep through the night with out walking up covered in sweet after dreaming of Grant and that night over and over again, sure she hadn't forgotten about it but she thought of it less and she was finally able to start living again.

She was startled out of her thought by Sam letting out a wolf-whistle right next to her ear, causing a slight ringer in her ear.  
"What the heck Sam?! Are you trying to make me deaf or something?"  
"Pish,posh look at that will ya! That's what I call sex on a stick."

She followed her friends gaze that was focused at the doorway where five, fine looking guys was standing, looking out over the room. Sam was right, it was seriously sex on a stick material. One guy in particular caught her attention, he had brown hair, piercing grey eyes that drew her in, his face had sharp lines that defined him very well and a seriously sexy smile that could make every girl melt at his feet. She knew at once that he was a bad guy and that she should stay away from him so that she wouldn't be just another notch to his belt and increase his ego.  
Just as she was about to look away his eyes locked with hers, making it impossible for her to look away. She just stood there leaning slightly against the table, her legs crossed making her dress ride up slightly on her thigh and a quite plain face she hoped. It was almost as she could feel his eyes roaming her body from top to toe and back up again to once more meet her eyes, the intense stare made her nervous so she quickly broke their gaze and focused on Taylor and Emily who were making their way towards them, hoping Sam hadn't noticed and wouldn't make a big deal out of it. But there was no such luck.

"I think we've found your man tonight Charls. Let's give him something to dream about yeah." Sam tugged her out on the dance-floor by dragging her by the arm so hard she was afraid it was gonna pop out.  
The guys had made their way over to the bar that were just a few feet away from were they where out on the dance-floor. The guy that her caught her eye was leaning on the bar facing the dance-floor, looking straight at her and it made her slightly self-conscious but after a minute she was totally focused on the music and her friends as they swayed their hips carefree. Every once in a while she would look over the bar and see the piercing grey eyes that was following her moves and hold their gaze for only a second before turning back to her friends.

Brax's pov

He walked sighing into his club with the guys in tow, they were on their way out just as his phone rang with an emergency at work. The guys thought it was great, cause that meant that they could hang around the club while he went and took care of the problem. His club was one of the hottest clubs in town and was filled with ladies looking for a night of fun, but he had made himself a sort of rule not to go hunting in his own club, it only caused trouble, much to his friends despair.  
He left his friends waiting in the line while he snuck through the crowded dance-floor to his office that he had placed on the other end of the club, which he cursed right now. As he made his way behind the tables that were surrounding the floor he spotted a absolutely stunning woman that he just couldn't take his eyes of. Her dark hair was thrown over one shoulder and feel down in lose curls and she wore a off white, silky dress that ended mid thigh, it hang loosely around her upper body but went skin tight around her arse.

At that moment and time his rule about not hunting at his own club went out the window, he was going home with her tonight one way or another.  
He hurried into his office and quickly finished what needed to be down before locking it up, stealing on last glance at his woman to make sure she was still there and then went out to the boys that was no first in line. As soon as they saw him coming towards them they sighed in frustration and got ready to head out again, they was sure as hell gonna kiss him when they heard his suggestion.  
"You just couldn't drag your as for once, could ya?"  
"We're staying here tonight" All the boys mouth dropped open and he couldn't help but laugh at their dumb expressions. "You heard me, or do you rather go somewhere else you're welcome to do so but I'm staying here."

Mike took a step forward and waved a hand in front of his face as he wore a worried expression on his face. "Are you feeling alright Brax?"  
"Yeah I'm fine mate, don't worry about it. Are you guys coming or what?" With that he turned around and walked back to entrance with the guys following closely behind. He watches the room looking for his woman yet again and when he finds her again she looks up and he his met by a pair of beautiful, blue eyes. Here from the top of the stairs he got a better view of her body then he did in the crowd, her legs were crossed and her dress was short which put her sexy, slender legs on display and it almost made him drool.  
"I think we've found Brax's rule breaker."  
"That's right. And she's mine so stay away or I'll break ya necks, now let's get a bear.

He had barley sat down at the barstool when the barman brought them their bears, that's the upside of being the boss. Letting the cool the beverage slide down his throat he spun around on his chair so that he was looking out at the room while siping his bear. He let his eyes roam around the room lazily enjoying seeing his pride and joy in action, as they reach the dance-floor the sight he's met with makes his eyes pop out in shock. On the dance-floor he could see her dancing closely with her blonde friend, he got lost in her movements and she just drew him in more and increased his interest for her.

For the rest of the night he sat at the bar with his buddies, talking if one of them wasn't out on the dance floor with some girl. Every once in a while he would watch her intensely wiling her to look up at him and at the times that she did he could see the want in her eyes too. Just as he was about to walk over to her he was ambushed buy a bouncing blonde. Her blonde hair was long and straight framing her face and bringing out her blue eyes, normally this was the kind of girl he would leave with at the end of the night it tonight was going to be different.  
He tried his hardest to make her leave him alone so he could walk over to the stunning brunette who was now walking of the dance floor, but the tipsy blonde wouldn't walk away. Instead she dragged him out on the dance floor and insisted that he should dance with her. She pressed herself close to him and started to whisper suggestions in his ear in a husky voice and for once in his life he only cringed at the words and got no excitement at all, his head was to occupied by thoughts of one girl. Never in his life had one girl got to him this much and it slightly irritated him, he needed to get this girl over to his place, fuck her to oblivion and then he would be free of her.

As he finally manage to get away from the blonde he search frantically after he when he couldn't spot her over at the table with her friends, she couldn't have left could she. He walked over to the bar as he cursed the stupid blonde for ruining his chances to clear his head of this insanity.  
He was sitting glumly at his chair drinking his bear with his back facing the floor, having given up hope, when he spotted her leaning over the bar further down. He jumped of his chair and walked so close to her that they were almost touching and he cold feel the heat radiating from her body. He leaned at the bar on his side so he was level with her face and when he leaned in he was met by the sent of her perfume and it almost drove him insane.  
"So when are we leaving"  
He was just a few feet away from her ear and he could see how she tried to hide the fact that she was startled and affected by his presence. She turned to face him with raised eyebrows and a small teasing smile, and once again he was struck by how utterly gorgeous she was.

"What are you on about tough-guy?"  
" I asked when we were leaving, cause you're going home with me tonight." She took the last remaining step it took for their chests to be pressed together, because of her high heels she only had to crane her neck a little bit to reach up to his ear and she took full advantage of that.  
"Is that so ay?" Her voice was husky and it sent chills up his spine and made his jeans a bit to tight, god he wanted this woman. He nuzzled her ear and he could feel her tremble against him.  
"Yeah, and I should tell you... I always get what I want."  
"And what is it that you want, tough-guy."  
"I want you on your back, in my bed, with those sexy legs of yours wrapped around me as I make you scream my name." She steadied herself by putting her hands on his chest and it felt good being this close to her.  
"So what's your name stranger."  
"Brax, and what's yours gorgeous?" She looked him straight in the eye, her blue ones glistering with mischief and he really wanted to find out.  
"Charlie, so how about it Brax? Gonna buy me a drink or what?"

At that he couldn't help but let out a full hearted laugh, she was not a chicken that's for sure and defiantly not a push over. He was gonna have to work for it, cause he had a pretty strong feeling that she wouldn't just go with him because he was charming, she was smarter then that.  
When he stopped laughing he took a step away from her and watch her with a smile has leaned back over the bar.  
"Okay then, what are you having?"  
"Beer, please!" She sent him a cheeky smile and then turned back to the bartender and flashed him a bright smile as he brought her beer over.  
"A woman after my own heart, if you say that you surf to I'll marry ya."  
"I might be able to catch a wave or two."  
"So you're not from around here then?"  
"I used to. I worked here a couple of years ago."  
"So were have you been since then?"  
"The last six months I've been out traveling so I've been in Thailand, Japan, the U.S, Europe... name it and I've been there."  
"Wow, that most be some work!" She cleared her throat and played with her bottle as she smiled and nodded her head.

They stayed there for a while and talked about a lot of things and he found that she was actually fun to talk to as well, not just to look at. Three beers later she stood from her chair and grabbed a hold of his hand and tugged him out to the dance-floor. After a painful but yet satisfying time on the dance-floor with Charlie's as rubbing itself at his crotch, a lot of flirting being whispered in each others ears and she finally turned around and begged him to take her out of there.

He now had her pinned up against his bedroom wall, his shirt and her dress lay in a heap on the floor long forgotten, the only thing that mattered was the feel of the other's body pressed up against it's own, trying to reach your own satisfaction. Her hands traveled across his back, up his neck and into his hair, massaging his scalp as his hands groped her arse and held her neck in the right angle as their tongues fought with each other. He groaned as she broke free from their kiss and started planting butterfly kisses from his jaw-line down his neck, while her hands tried to unbuckle his pants. As soon as she had them done he kicked them off and got to work on her strapless bra, and the sight that met him literally took his breath away. He carried her from the wall and put her down on his bed, just were he wanted her, and climbed on top of her. He quickly got rid of their remaining clothes and thrust into her slick entrance with one quick stroke that got her to cry out in pleasure, and he felt a bit proud that he did that to her.  
"Oh god- Braax!"He smirked down at her and leaned in so that their lips were barley touching. "Told ya I always get what I want, Beautiful."

As they both came down from their high they collapsed in each other's embrace and they were soon asleep. Before his eyes closed he gathered her up in his arms and pulled her close to him so he could burry his face in her neck. Something inside him didn't want to let her go, she was beyond what he had expected. She was not just a pretty shell, there were something else there he couldn't just put his finger on, she had fire and what they just had done was beyond amazing.

**So guys, tell me what you think of the plot and the first chapter, is it something you want more of? Please review, it's fun to hear what you have to say.**  
**Xxx Lexie**


	3. Chapter 2 - Coming home

**Here´s a new chapter. Sorry for the wait but have had a lot to do lately and this was kind of last on my list. So I hope you´ll like it, the end might be bad cause I was really tired when I wrote it, trying to finish it so I could publish it. Anyhow, the language might be a bit different cause I´ve been studying to take my CC and it´s all in British English. **

**Well, read and let me know what you guys think!**

**XXx Lexie **

Chapter two

Brax's pov

Brax woke up the next morning, slightly hangover, after the best night's sleep he had had in a while. Last night had been amazing, Charlie had been amazing there was so much more to her then just a pretty face. She had a quick mouth and she could uphold some really interesting conversation. It had been the first time in really long that he actually considered seeing the girl after their first meet.

It had also been the first time he had fallen asleep while still being with the girl. Normally he would´ve kicked her out with lies and false hope, or he would´ve sneaked out after she had closed her eyes. But with Charlie there was something pulling him in, he found that he didn´t want to let her go so instead he had curled up behind her while nuzzling her neck and pulling her close.  
Just thinking about it made him want to slap himself.

He reached out in search for the smocking hot body that had kept him warm last night but was only met by cold sheets. His eyes flew open as he realised that Charlie was not there as he expected. He looked frantically around the room in search for her but the room had no trace of her whatsoever, his clothes were the only ones on the floor, hers were nowhere to be seen. He cursed and slumped back against the pillows, she had done a runner like he had done a thousand times. Normally he wouldn´t have cared, he would´ve just been glad that she would be gone, not that another woman had ever left him but if it had…

It actually pissed him off that she had just bailed on him, she had balls he´d give her that but women don´t leave him he leaves them. So her walking out on him kind of messed with his ego a little bit.  
But why would he care? It was just sex, something he needed to and get out of his system. But why was it that he found himself not being able to stop thinking of last night, of her beneath him with her long legs wrapped around him as she withered in pleasure and moaned his name in a voice that made him hard just thinking about it.

With a groan he grabbed the pillow next to him and threw it across the room and cursed out loud.  
What bugged him the most was not that she was the one that left. It was finding himself caring about it, never had a woman stuck herself in his head like that.

With a frustrated sigh and a mental slap he got out of bed and started to throw on some clothes. He had to get back home to the restaurant before Heath made to big a mess and left it all to Kyle to fix. Plus he his neighbour and best friends dad had this barbeque this afternoon he had to go to, hopefully it would be fun if Jack and Pete would show up which he was pretty sure that they would, if there was food anywhere they would be there.

As he reached for his shirt on the floor he spotted a piece of dark blue lace laying at the top of the bed where his pillow had been a few minutes ago. Picking it up he realised that it was Charlie´s underwear, he groaned at the thought of her walking out of here without it. But at least it was a reminder, besides the scratch marks on his back, that she truly had been there and wasn´t just a figure of his imagination.  
So it was with a big grin on his face and the blue lace in his pocket that he drove off towards the club to check on things before driving home.

Charlie´s pov

She drove home happier than she had been in a while, she was going to see her daughter and her family for the first time in months and last night with Brax had been utterly amazing, the chemistry between them was unbelievable and the result of it had been mind-blowing.

Her family had no idea that she was coming home today, even less so that she was only fifteen minutes away from Summerbay right now. She couldn´t wait to see the look on her daughter´s face when she showed up, and the fact to just be able to hold her. Despite the fact that it had been nice to get away and clear her head, she had really missed her family even her annoying older brothers that were suffocating her at times.

As the familiar scenery flashed by her thoughts travelled to Brax, the mysterious man she had met last night at the bar, the things he had said to her that made her knees go weak and the way he had only kissed her and it had still brought her to heaven.  
She didn´t regret it but she knew his kind and she felt a whole lot better knowing she was the one that left him instead of him leaving her like she knew he would. She knew that he wouldn´t want to continue anything and that was fine with her, so she left without a word like nothing had happened.

Driving past the town sign she continued on the familiar road that led to her father´s house and the anticipation grew bigger and bigger. She put a little more force on the accelerator and in no time at all she was parked outside the house and running up the driveway towards the door.  
It was only nine in the morning but she figured her dad or Beth would be up at least, so she knocked hard on the door and waited impatiently, praying for someone to open it soon. Soon enough she heard footsteps and then a shadow appeared behind the closed glass-door. The door swung open and behind it was her father wearing slightly wet board-shorts and a towel in hand, indicating he had been out surfing. As soon as he saw her a big grin spread across his face and his eyes started to water slightly. He breathed in sharply and then let out a shaky breath trying to calm himself down.

"You´re home." She only nodded because she could feel tears well up in her eyes as well and she didn´t trust himself to speak.  
He took a tentative step towards her, as if her was afraid she would disappear if he moved to fast, and brought up a hand to her face and stroked her cheek gently.  
"Hi dad!"  
She smiled through her tears and that seemed to be all it took for her father to break, in quicker than a heartbeat she had her face pressed into the crook of his neck breathing in his familiar smell as his arms held her tight to his chest, like to make sure she wouldn´t be able to get away.  
"I´ve missed you so much sweetie, you have no idea!"

"I´ve missed you too dad!"

They stood just like that for a while until Beth came into the room and squealed at the sight before her.  
"Charlie!"  
Her father let her go and she run over to Beth who was waiting for her with open arms. Charlie lost her mother when she was twelve in a bust that went wrong, her father then met Beth just before she turned fifteen around the time she had Ruby. One might think that a new "mother" at a time like that would be a no go but it was actually the exact opposite, Beth was kind and easy to talk to but most importantly she was an outsider which made her so much easier to talk and open up to then her father or brothers. Beth helped her through everything and convinced her that she would be a great mom despite everything. After that Charlie felt like her family was complete once more, Beth had become the glue in their family she never let them fight for too long go to long without speaking.

"It´s good to see you again, sweetheart!"

"You too, Beth!" She dried her tears with her hand and looked around the room to take everything in, it looked exactly the same. It was the same photos on the walls, same sofas and the same white wallpaper. The only difference was that the place was filled with girl stuff that hasn´t been in this house since Mattie lived here two years ago before she moved to Perth with Ric.  
"Beth, where´s Ruby?"

Beth smiled and nodded her head towards the hallway that led further into the house. "She still asleep, I don´t think she´s been up before then during the entire holiday."  
A big smile spread across her face as she thought about her daughter and her traits, especially her sleeping habits.  
"Sounds about right."  
Not being able to wait any longer she walked fast down the hallway towards the door she knew would lead to her sleeping daughter, she had to stop herself from bursting through the door and waking up her daughter. Instead she opened the door quietly and snuck into the room to see her daughter laying sprawled out on her bed, her chest moving up and down indicating that she was breathing. She snuck up to the bed and lay down next to Ruby and started to stroke her hair.

"Come on baby, it´s time to wake up." She stirred a little and then moved so she was facing the wall instead of Charlie.  
"Go away mom, just a few more minutes." Suddenly she froze like she realised what she just said and shot up into a sitting position on the bed, eyes wide in shock.

"Hi baby!"

"Mom!" It came out as a whimper and then she threw herself at her and buried her face in her neck. Charlie could feel her tears on her neck and her tiny body shock as she sobbed quietly. Ruby´s arms wound tighter around her neck as she stroke her back soothingly.

"It´s okay Rubes! I´m here, I´m fine and I´m not going anywhere okay."

"I´ve missed you mom! It sucked when you weren´t here, I was so worried are you okay? I mean… Are you feeling okay, after… I know it was my fault and everything I just wanted to help."

In shock Charlie moved out of their embrace and held Ruby at arm's length and stared her dead in the face. She had felt how her heart contract in her chest as she had heard the pain in Ruby´s voice and the blame was evident in her face.  
"Hey, listen to me! That was not your fault do you hear me? What Grant did has nothing to do with you, he´s sick."

"But I went to see him, if I hadn´t have done that he would´ve never come back to the bay to look for you. He might have been the one that attacked you but I brought him here." Tears streamed down her cheeks and Charlie couldn´t take it anymore, pulling Ruby into a bone crushing hug and stroking her back as she spoke in a soft voice.

"It doesn´t matter, you didn´t know and you just wanted to meet the man who were your father, despite what he had done, in hope that he had changed and wasn´t the same. He´s the one to blame. He was the one that attacked me seventeen years ago and came back to do it again, I pulled the trigger on the gun he has had pointed towards him for a long time, sweetie. And I´m fine, okay. Traveling the world really did some good but I missed you though, heck I even missed Jack and Pete after a while how messed up is that when you have something as beautiful as Paris before ya?"

"I already knew you were weird mom!" Ruby laughed and threw a pillow at her face but it was like she was frozen still, but her inside were doing summersaults. Ever since she had got here Ruby hadn´t stopped calling her mom, not once had she said Charlie instead. The last time she had called her mom was over a year ago.  
"What´s wrong mom? You´re looking at me funny!"

"Nothing, it´s just that… You haven´t stopped calling me mom since I got here and you haven´t done that in a while. Not that I don´t like it or anything! It´s just taken me by surprise, that´s all!"

Ruby looked sheepishly down at her hands that now lay in her lap like it suddenly was the most interesting thing in the world. "It´s just that with everything that happened, when we nearly lost you it made me realise how much you mean to me. It doesn´t matter what happened back then, I get it that you were scared and you have made up for it ever since. You´re my mom no matter what and I really don´t know what I would do if you didn´t come back to me."

With tears flowing from their eyes they embraced and fell down to the bed were they lay curled up together until Beth came in and told them that breakfast was ready. Walking into the kitchen she was met by a table full of everything you could possibly want, like a hotel except here the food was so much better both her dad and Beth were masters in the kitchen. There was enough food to feed the entire town.

"Hi dad? Why don´t we call Pete and Jack over so I can surprise them and then they can help us go through all this food? Cause I´m sure as hell aren't going to eat all that."

"Ehm Sweetie… we, me and Beth, were thinking that we maybe could hold on with telling Jack and Pete for a few hours… Cause we´re having a barbeque today so then you can surprise everyone at once. That way you can spend the entire day with Ruby first cause later on you won´t have any spare time." Charlie grinned at the idea, everyone in her family loved to surprise each other at homecomings and birthdays but her brothers took the price. They always had to make a show of everything, if they made a prank they would make it in front of the whole station and at her birthdays they always embarrassed her by making a sweet speech that made her cry in front of everyone. Now it was her turn to embarrass them. She grinned at her father and nodded eagerly which made her father stoke on laughter, that then made them all laugh. She was finally home.

For the rest of the day she didn´t leave that house. The four of them run around the kitchen preparing for this afternoon, mind she only got to chop things cause she was pretty much a disaster in the kitchen she couldn´t do much except for a few things, as she told them about her trip and everything she had gotten up to. The day was full of jokes, laughs and gibes.

Around two she was shooed into Ruby´s room to get ready while they finished up inside in case someone was early, they didn´t want to spoil the surprise. As she stood in front of her mirror getting dressed she wondered how everyone would react, Bianca and Martha would probably scream and then suffocate her with questions while Leah would be her calm self. Jack and Pete however was a different story, she had no idea how they would react. They were always the one that would surprise her not the other way around.

She could hear cars driving up to the house one by one and after every car the front door would open and the volume in the house increased. After twenty minutes of trying to listen to what everyone was saying through the door but failing miserably her father came and led her out the front door so she could sneak around the house to the back were everyone were. She walked around the house all jittery with excitement and it grew bigger as the voices got louder. Coming to a halt at the corner she carefully peeked around it and saw everyone she loved gathered in one place, she took a deep calming breath and plastered a smile on her face and walked out of her hiding spot, revealing herself.

Brax´s pov

"So mate, how was the night in the city?" He couldn´t contain his grin at the reminder of last night and his thoughts travelled to the scrap of lace that was still lying in his pocket. At his friend´s big grin Jack grinned just as wide and looked at him with expecting eyes.  
"That good ay?"At that Brax only nodded and brought his beer to his lips, indicating that he wouldn´t give away anything. "Come on, tell me something at least!"

"It was amazing. We fell asleep together and when I woke up she was gone, forgetting her lace behind." Jack´s jaw dropped to the floor and he looked at Brax like he was an alien.  
"You feel asleep with the girl? And then she left you not the other way around? You, the man that goes through girls like another goes through his underwear?" Brax only chuckled and looked around the backyard and saw Casey sitting with his girl Ruby, Jack´s niece, that he had started to date almost immediately when they had moved here five months ago. Apparently her mom, Jack´s sister, was overseas and was expected to come home soon and for the last couple of weeks he hadn´t heard anything else from Jack then how much he missed his baby sister.

"So, heard anything from your sister lately?"

"Nah, not for a couple of days. Last I heard she was driving around Italy eating olives and drinking wine."

"Come on boys, the game is on!"

The pair of them put down their beer and moved over to the others were Tony and Alf split them in to teams and then the soccer-game was in full run. The fun part was that everyone´s partner of some kind was on the opposite team which made it a deadly serious game.

"Well, well I leave and all hell breaks loose!" The game came to an erupt stop and everyone turned to the familiar voice even to him. When he turned around he was met by a sight he would´ve never expected to see this morning when he woke up alone. In front of him stood Charlie looking even more beautiful than she was last night in the flashing lights of the club. She was wearing a white summer dress with a blossom pattern that reached the ground and her hair was down in lose curls, her blues eyes sparkling in the sun. She had yet to notice him, her blue eyes only focused on Jack and Pete who was both standing still in shock trying to contain their emotions, but he thought himself spotting a tear falling from Jack´s eyes.

"Are you two just going to stand there all day or are you going to give me a hug?" She was wearing a cheeky grin but her eyes were just as glossy as the guys. Jack shock his head like he couldn't believe what he saw and then took three quick steps over to her and swept her into his arms, hugging her tight to him. They were whispering in low voices so he was not able to hear what they were saying but once they were done they just stood and held each other. As they finally let go she was swung up by another pair of arms and spun around in the air, making her giggle and laugh echoed through the backyard.

He could see how Martha, Bianca and Leah were all wearing identical smiles that reached their eyes as they were standing beside the happy siblings waiting for their turn.  
When she had been passed around to everybody Jack grabbed her by the arm and dragged her over to where he stood. He could see the shock and the fear in her eyes and it amused him to no end.  
"Charles meet my mate Brax, he and his brother is living next door. He´s Casey´s oldest brother. Brax, meet the youngest Holden, my sister Charlie. "

"Yeah, we´ve actually already met." Jack looked at him in surprise and Charlie´s eyes were wide but he detected a little bit of anger too.  
"Really? When?"

"Last night at my club in the city, my mate went home with one of her friends, it was a fun night." He could see Charlie let out a sigh in relief as she gave him a somewhat thankful look.  
"Well then you won´t mind if I leave you alone for a while?"

"Not at all mate!"

As Jack walked away they just stood and took each other in and he was once again struck by her beauty, last night had not done her justice. After a few moments in awkward silence and staring he decided to break the silence. He took a step closer towards her and he could see how she retained herself from backing away, not wanting to appear weak.  
"Got everything when you run away this morning did ya?"

"What are you talking about, I wasn´t running away." He chuckled softly and brought his hand up and discreetly stroked her cheek making her slap it away.

"Sure you weren´t and that´s why you left without a note and before I woke up. And to not forget the fact that you left your panties in my bed. It made me hard just thinking about you without them." He pulled the blue lace from his pocket and showed them to Charlie making her blush slight as she tried to grab them from him but he put them back into his pocket while shaking his head. "Ah,ah these are mine Beautiful. What I would like to know is why you run of in such a hurry?"

She snorted at him and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest as she glared at him. "Like you give a damn, you would´ve kicked me out anyway. I´m just surprised you didn´t do it before you fell asleep. You´re a womaniser only after one thing, it´s just your wounded ego talking. I bet you aren´t used to women leaving you, are you?"

"Well you know you enjoyed, at least if we´re going to go after your screams. So how about we get out of here and we can make it right this time, and I might let you have these back." His voice was low and his mouth was close to her ear and he could feel her shiver slightly.

"I don´t think so tough guy, I don´t do repeats." And with that she walked away, her hips swaying lightly making him more determined than ever to have her in his bed again.

"We´ll see about that!"


	4. Chapter 3 - Game on

∞ Chapter three - Game on ∞  
Brax's pov

He was crouching down in the sand the next morning, fastening his safety strap as he looked out over the ocean were a few more were riding waves. It was still early, the sun had just risen, so the beach was practically empty. He could see Casey further down the beach with Romeo, both blowing of some steam before they had to be stuck in school all day and Heath he had no idea were he was. He was probably bumming around somewhere and that was just fine with him, that gave him some peace and quite to deal with his own her head.

Last night had not exactly gone as he expected, when he had went next door he would've never expected to see Charlie there and find out that "his" Charlie was also Jack's sister Charlie. It might not be ideal but his day turned so much better the moment she stepped into that backyard. When he woke up yesterday morning he accepted the fact that she had run away from him and he wouldn't see the sexy minx he had bedded the night before, but now that they were living in the same small town he was gonna get his payback. He was gonna make her beg for him and then burn her just as she did to him, despite all his instincts she got to him somehow.  
He was startled out of his thoughts when another board was dropped into the sand just next to him and then Jack's ugly mug came down to his level, and it wasn't a pretty sight.  
"What the heck happened to you mate? It looks like you've been hit by a truck or something." A chuckle escaped his lips even though he tried to contain it. Jack had big bags under his eyes and he winched at the sound of his laugh, he must have one hell of a hangover and Brax wasn't surprised considering all the beers he drank last night.

"Shut up will ya, I'm seriously not in the mood right now."  
"Then why the hell are you up already, shouldn't you be home in bed eating asprin like every other weak male?" Jack sent him a glare that should've buried him ten feet under the ground but it at least got him to shut up.

"I would love to do that but if I do that and show up like this at the station in three hours Charlie will absolutely kill me and after she has killed me she would fire me."  
"Hang on! Are you telling me that Charlie, your baby sister, is your boss and gets to boss you around at work and home? Haha that's hilarious!" Jack looked at him as if he had two heads and should wear a straight jacket behind lock and key. "Oh come on mate, your lovely baby sister has you wrapped around her little finger. You would do anything for her, the way you have been nagging on and on about her, it's not rocket-science."

A goofy-looking yet serious smile crossed his face as he looked out over the water, getting lost in his thoughts about his lovely sister.  
"Yeah, you're probably right. She is though, all the things she went through after we lost mom... and yet she still manages to keep me and Pete in line. She's our family's little sunshine, I don't know what I would do without her." Despite how nice it was to hear about a family that was so kept together as the Holdens it was way to early to have such deep conversations so he decided to light it up a bit.  
"Well, for started you would still be in bed, not being scared out of your wits that she would fire you for being hangover that's for sure."  
That got laughter from the both of them and they both turned their attention to the water where Tony was heading further out and a girl with dark hair were on her way in to shore, he could hear Jack mumbling incoherent in the background but all his focus was on the beauty that was making her way out of the water and towards them.

As she got closer his jaw hit the sand in astonishment. The girl, or more like woman, was none other then Charlie and she looked fine! Her body's most sacred parts were hidden behind a white bikini that made her looked more tan then she was and brought out her entire water-drop soaked body on display. Her legs were moving in a sensual rhythm and under her arm she held a surfboard. She had just raised the bar.  
When she reached them she looked slightly embarrassed for a fraction of a section that she had caught him looking at her but she quickly covered it up and acted like nothing as she buried the nose of the board in the sand.  
"You just took the word sexy to a whole new level!"

That comment earned him a hard slap on the back of his head from Jack and a half blush, half glare from Charlie.  
"Dude, that's my sister?!"  
"So? She's still hot." Jack just shock his head and strapped his board to his ankle before running towards the water and called over his shoulder.  
"I'm not gonna listen to you flirt with my sister mate and I'm not even gonna waste my time to tell you the whole "you hurt her I'll kill"-speech, firstly because you won't listen anyway and secondly there's noway in hell she's stupid enough to date your stupid as."  
"Thanks mate, that really warmed my heart!" He chuckled and turned his attention towards Charlie who stood slightly turned away from him as she tried off with her towel. "You know that you're not making it easier on yourself right?" She turned to him her whole face showing of confusion, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed over her chest.  
"What are you on about?"  
"Surfing, being a cop... I told you that there was nothing sexier then a hot chick on a board. You're just making me more determined to get you, and you should now that I love to chase after what I want."  
"Your cute lines wont work on me though guy. You should find someone else who will stroke your ego."  
"Why when you do it so well?" A smirk crossed his face and after a few seconds a faint blush crept up her cheeks after she realised her mistake and the double-meaning of what she just said. Slightly flustered she grabbed her board and walked away without a word, he couldn't help but watch her walk away and the sway of her hips made him draw in a sharp breath. She was going to kill him if he didn't have her soon. He had stopped counting how many times he had gotten hard but couldn't get release, it was starting to get painful.

After his surf he went home and grabbed a shower before heading into work. Once he got in there was no time for a break, he thought he had done most of the damage-control yesterday when he got back but Heath had managed to make more mess then he thought was possible after only two days. The deliveries were all messed up and had not been payed and the boxes were still to be unpacked and there was the huge pile of paperwork that was laying on his desk in the office waiting for him to go through them. He sighed at the sight, knowing he would be here way after closing time, but it was worth it, the restaurant was their lifejacket if anything ever went wrong, it gave them cover and it would provide them with money when they had to stop with the side business just as the club would. So that's why he would spend so much time trying to make something of it, despite the fact that he sometimes wanted to puke on it.

He was half way through packing up the deliveries when a flustered Heath came running up the stairs and into the restaurant, calling his name franticly. With a sigh he abandoned his task and left the storeroom only to find his brother pacing circles in front of the bar.  
"What do you want Heath, didn't I tell ya not to come here if we didn't want every one to get whim of the whole thing?!"  
"Whatever! What are we going to do about the coppers."  
"What about the coppers? How in hell do we have them on our backs already?" Heath looked at him a little sheepishly and Brax tried to control his temper, as soon as Heath had mentioned cops his anger had risen. They had been in the bay for six months and their operation had only been up and running for less then three months, ever since he had bought Angelo's, and they had already the cops on their backs. That might mean that they had to move away sooner then he expected and if he was truly honest he wasn't to sure if he wanted to move from here. He liked it here, he practically lived and worked on the beach, he had friends that didn't know what he did and didn't look up to him because they were terrified of him and wanted to be like him. But there was no doubt in his mind that if he had to he would move anyway.

"They have been starting to nose around, I don't think that they no much because they never do anything, they just check on us from time to time. And they got this new one, she's really hot and according to our contacts she's good too. good thing she wasn't here when we started." He didn't even have to say the new cops name, hot and new was all he needed to hear to know that it was Charlie. He knew that she was though and if she was Jack's boss, who was a good cop, then it was no surprise to him that she would be good to. Charlie. She was really messing with his life in every aspect but she was also going to be his solution.  
"I have an in at the copshop that I can use to try to figure out what they are up to... But if that's the case I can't be seen with the guys at all, that would blow the whole thing. I have to act like I'm totally straight and the only thing that connects me to it is that you happens to be my brother. And most importantly, you can't judge me. What I'm about to do is for the boys and I do what I have to to keep myself out of the loop so there's someone to back you up." With a nodded Heath slapped him on the back and walked out of the restaurant without a word.

As he walked he walked back into the storeroom he felt pretty proud of himself, he was going to if both his problem and the boys by doing one and the same thing. He was going to get cosy with Charlie, and by cosy he meant real cosy.

∞ Charlie's pov ∞

She had yet to unpack and she had barley been at her house. The first night back she had stayed her dad's place with Ruby, watching movies in their bed before falling asleep and then the next morning she had went straight to work after her morning surf with her dad. But despite all that she still felt relaxed and at home as she sat by her desk in her office, reading reports on a case she had been handed from the another station. It was about the Riverboys that had previously been stationed further down the coast but had now moved back to Summerbay and their leader was apparently Heath Braxton, Brax and Casey's brother.

Despite that her brothers told her that neither Casey or Brax was involved, that Brax would have none of it and made it his task to make sure that Casey didn't go down the same road as Heath, she did a background check on them and their family which showed her that they all had a record. Their father was currently in jail after having committed several robberies and he had several years left on his sentence. Their mother was a drunk who they had many times been forced to take home after they had been called out to a domestic and she was almost always involved. Heath himself had been busted with drugs a few times and been arrested for suspicion of many things but never been convicted, Casey had been in and out of juvie after a break and entering when he was fifteen but had since then stayed clean. Brax's on the other hand was almost to clean for a family like his, there were a few incidents when he was younger but for the past ten years at least there was not even a parking or speeding ticket in his name. He was an honourable businessman with no dodgy contacts accept for his brother. But despite all that she still had a gut feeling that something was wrong and that something was happening right under her nose that wasn't' visible on paper.

Slightly frustrated of not getting anywhere she threw the papers on her desk and walked out of the station and sat down on the hood of her car, breathing in the fresh air. Darryl Braxton seemed to be the one and only thing on her mind lately, he wouldn't leave her alone. At home he showed up and made her hot and flustered with need, at work he showed up and made her doubt her instincts and steer her in the wrong direction. It was not good for her, she needed to get her head out of the gutter and forget about him all together but he was making it really hard. She kept replaying their night together, how his very touch set her on fire and when he whispered pet-names in her ear she felt something that wasn't supposed to be there. What was supposed to be a one night stand with a stranger totally backfired. The supposed stranger just happened to be her daughter's boyfriend's, of whom she didn't know about, brother and he just had to have moved in next doors to her father while she was away. It couldn't get more messed up then that, she was in serious need of a girl talk. Quicker then lightning she had taken out her phone from her pocket and hit speed-dial for her saviour.  
"Hi, it's me. Do you have time for a coffee? I really need to talk..." After a few seconds the call was ended and Charlie jumped into her car and drove off towards the diner.

Arriving at the diner she got her coffee from Irene and went out to sit at the end of the pier, as she waited for her saviour she took of her low black heels she had to wear to work with her ridiculous suit. Sometimes she would stretch it and wear jeans instead of dress-pants, like today she wore dark blue jeans, her heels and an white button/up blouse she had tucked in at the waist, cause she still had to look professional.

She dipped her toes in the water and savoured the free feeling she got by the light breeze and the feeling of the water running between her toes. After a few minutes another pair of bare feet joined hers and when she looked up from the water she was met by Bianca's piercing green eyes that was looking worriedly at her.  
"Hey, are you okay? You sounded weird on the phone."  
"Yeah, I'm okay I just really need to talk to someone or I'm going to explode. But you have to promise not to tell Martha or Leah, cause you know they will tell Jack and Dan and they talk to each other and..."  
"Woah, take a breath will you sweetie?! I promise! Now tell me, you're freaking me out!" Charlie took a deep breath and turned her focus towards the ocean as she thought back to her first night back in Australia.

"When I got back two days ago I stayed in the city to catch up with my old colleagues and we went to our favourite club. We talked about my trip, got drinks and after a while we started dancing. Then this really hot guy walked in with his friends and he pinned me down with his eyes as soon as he walked through the door. At first we just stood across the room and stared at each other once in a while but later on by the bar he approached me, I got him to buy me a beer and we flirted a lot. Then we started dancing, I was horny I hadn't really been with anyone in over a month, and I stupidly enough told him to take me home."  
Bianca just stared at her in amazement and shock her head slightly. "A woman after my own heart, now what's wrong with that?"  
"We feel asleep and when I woke up the next morning it was in his arms. I knew what kind of guy he was, I'm not stupid, so I didn't see a point in hanging around having to go through the same lame speech he gives to every other girl he's bedded. So I left and thought it was the end of it, but it wasn't... I saw again last night, at dad's."  
"Who Charlie, who?!"  
"Brax, Casey's brother." Embarrassed with herself she hid her face in her hands and groaned when she heard Bianca laugh quietly next to her. "It's not funny Bianca. It was so embarrassing when he called me out on it and then he kept leaving hints all night in front of Jack, and then this morning I run into him after my surf and he flirted with me with Jack standing next to him?! God, I wanted to die at the spot."

"No I know, I'm sorry! But honey you shouldn't feel embarrassed, every woman in this town from the age of twenty up to fifty have been ogling him since he moved here six months ago, you just landed a pipe dream." They held each other's gaze having a silent conversation before both turned to the ocean and sipped on their coffee in silence, just enjoying the peace and quiet for a while. At least that's what she thought. "So.. was he good?"  
"So, so damn good!" They both burst out in laughter so tears were coming out of their eyes. Charlie felt as if a huge weight had been lifted of her chest, ever since she saw Brax in her father's backyard she has been dying to tell someone her secret, someone she could went about all his attempts.

Later that day she got home to an empty house as Ruby was out with Casey and she couldn't help but sigh with relief, she was bummed. Being away for six months and leaving her two brother's in charge of her station left a lot of paperwork they had saved for her. She kicked of her shoes as soon as she got inside the kitchen door and left ajar as she walked barefoot over to the fridge and grabbed the pitcher of ice water. She filled her glass and jumped up on the counter and sipped her drink with closed eyes as she slowly started to relax.  
"Shouldn't that be wine in that glass instead?"  
She didn't even have to open her eyes to know who it was, that voice managed to send shivers up her spine after only a few encounters with it. But knowing that she couldn't keep pretending that him in her kitchen was just a dream she reluctantly open her eyes, and there he was, leaning against her doorframe looking just as good as ever. His black t-shirt clung to his upper body, his ripped jeans hung loosely on his hips and his green eyes looked intently at her.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I was looking for Casey, thought he might be here." He tried to pull on an innocent face and crooked his head a little to the side with a small smile.  
"Yeah right, well they are not here I think they were going out with Xav and Romeo. So now you can leave, don't let the door hit you on the way out."

He let out a heart warming chuckle and pushed off the doorway and strode into her kitchen as he owned the place. He stopped behind her on the kitchen island and she couldn't help but feel a little bit unnerved of not being able to see him. She almost had a heart-attack when his hands grabbed her shoulders and started to massage them softly.  
"You're tense detective.." She debated wether she should pull away or not but his hands were working magic so she couldn't find it in herself to pull away. "You know Charlie, I'm a bit disappointed... When I found out you were a cop and none the less Jack's boss I had imagined you in uniform.."  
"Sorry to disappoint you."  
"That's quite alright, you still surf and you do look good in a suit but I prefer you naked."  
"Is that all you think about Brax?"

His hands stopped it's motions and he moved so he was standing before her, his hands in her thighs while he was looking her in they eye. "No it's not. Go on a date with me."  
"What?!" She stared at him like she was a lunatic on the lose from the madhouse. Was he really serious, going on a date with him? Words like womaniser, Heath, one night stand, mistake and not a good idea swirled around in her head as she tried to read his face if he was serious or just playing a prank. And is if he could read her thoughts he looked her right in the eye, making it impossible for her to look away.  
"I'm not my brother Charlie and I'm might not be great at relationships but I know as well as you do that we were great together and that there's something more then just sex."  
"And how would you know that huh?"  
"Maybe I'll tell you one day." He winked at her and let his hands travel up her legs to her waist. Before they could travel any further she stopped them and brought them away from her and back to his side before she pushed lightly on his chest making him move out of her personal space.

"I think you should leave, yeah" He nodded and walked back towards the door but turned around and threw her one cheeky smile.  
"I'm not giving up Beautiful! Remember, I always get what I want." And with that he walked out the door and left her sitting astonished on the bench long after he left and she was sure she was in for one hell of a ride, well she wouldn't give in that easily that's for sure. Game on!

**There you go guys! Hope you liked it! **  
**I'm not sure about the whole detective dress code, I tried to find some information but it wasn't easy so if anyone of you know please tell me so I can correct it. And if you have any other suggestions or thoughts don't be afraid to tell me, I love your intel!**

**Almost done with my CC, what do you think of my work and way of writing now?**

**XxX Lexie ∞**


	5. Chapter 4 - crossfire

**Here you go guys! Second update in two days in a row, it must be some kind of record! But don't get used to it, I'm just on role right now, ideas just pop into my head! **  
**Well read and let me know what you think! **  
**Xxx Lexie**

**∞ Chapter four - Crossfire ∞**  
**Charlie's pov**

Her feet hit the asphalt in a fast yet steady rhythm but she could barley hear it for the beating of her heart that was ringing in her ears. She was starting to get really tired but she only had a little bit left she could almost she her house, so with the little energy she had left she pushed harder into the ground the last five hundred meters and once she was outside her back door she sunk to the ground and breathed heavily as she rested her arms on her knees. After a few minutes of trying to calm down her breathing she finally noticed the note that was lying on the doormat outside the door. Picking it up from the ground she unfolded it and started to read.

It's the Holden family day! Pack your stuff and get your butt down to the beach, Rubes is here already.  
Love you, Pete.

With a smile she run into the house and jumped into the shower, antsy getting to the beach. The smile never left her face, her family was truly amazing, they always knew what she needed. She had been back in town for a little over a week and she had been in the station almost every second of the day, except for the few hours at night that she spent at home with Ruby and sleeping. So on her day off nothing sounded better then a family picnic that they would every once in a while. Her dad, Beth, Pete and Georgia, Jack and Martha, she and Ruby, sometimes VJ and Beth's kids when they were in town, would go down to the beach with towels, food and blankets. They would surf, play soccer in the sand, eat Beth's food and just hang out with each other. It was a day full of fun and laughter, and that was exactly what she needed.

Turning of the shower she wrapped a towel around her body and walked into her room to throw on a dark blue bikini and matching lose sundress that ended just above her knees. So with her bag on her shoulder, flip flops on her feet and her board under her arm she went down to the beach were her family was waiting.  
As she reached the beach everything was already set in motion, blankets lay in the sand and occupied a large area of the beach, in the middle of the blankets stood baskets and bags and behind them were several boards showed down with the nose into the sand. Beth and Martha was sitting on a blanket with a glass of wine in hand watching the other lunatics as they run around in the sand after a football. She could make out her daughters laugh among the many noises and when she spotted her she was swung up into the air by Casey, that was racking down towards the water with her in his arms and Charlie couldn't contain her smile. She might have been a little opposite her daughters relationship with Casey Braxton at first but after watching the two of them together she realised that he was a good kid despite the fact that he had Heath as a brother.

The whole day they run around on the beach doing everything in the book, she showed them pictures of her trip and when everyone else was out in the water she, Martha and Beth gushed over the pictures of the boys she had met in different places around the world. It was the perfect day, she couldn't remember the last time she was this happy.

When she and Ruby arrived home later that day they were both to exhausted to cook dinner after being out in the sun all day, so it ended up with Charlie going over to Angelo's to pick up some pizzas. The only thing she didn't count on and that she didn't have the energy to deal with was Brax. She had totally forgotten that he now owned the restaurant and not Angelo. So when he came up behind the bark she almost bolted out the door but then he had already pinned her with his eyes and she knew it was too late. Sighing she walked over to the bar where he stood grinning and looking incredibly handsome.  
"You just couldn't stay away, could you?"  
"Two meat-lovers please." She said with a fake smile, totally ignoring his try to flare her up, making him chuckle slightly as he took her money and sent the order with a waiter. She took a seat and one of the barstools playing with her phone as she waited for the pizzas, hoping he would go away but he didn't. He only took a step to the side so he was standing right in front of her again and leaned with his lower arms on the bar.

"What do you want Brax?"  
"I just wanted to say thank you, for letting Casey tag along on your family day. He really liked it, he hasn't stopped talking about it since he got home. He, I, really appreciate it."  
"No, it was nice having him there, he's a good kid.." She looked up from her phone and met his eyes, giving him a small smile making him smile back.  
"Unlike his brothers you mean?"  
"You're not a bad person Brax, you're charming and I don't trust you, but you're not a bad person."  
"Well how about it then, when are you going to let me take you out and show you I can charming and trustworthy?" She opened her mouth to answer but before she could speak she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Seeing that it was work she couldn't ignore it, so reluctantly she answered it knowing that this would ruin her night with Ruby.  
"Charlie Holden... Yep I'm on my way, pick me up outside Angelo's!" With a groan she hung up the phone and closed her eyes for a few seconds.  
"Is everything okay Charlie?"  
"Yeah, can I ask you a favour? Can you call Ruby for me and tell her that the pizza is here, and that I had to go to work so if she doesn't want to be alone tonight she should go home to dads? I might be late."  
"Sure thing." But she could barley hear him cause she was already halfway through the door. As she came out if the surf club Jack was already in the parking lot waiting for her, she was grateful that she had changed out of her dress when she got home to jeans and sneakers, this was gonna be a long night.

When she jumped into the car Jack sent her an apologetic look that resembled a puppy dog. "Stop with the eyes Jacky, it's not gonna help."  
"I'm sorry Charles, I know you were spending the evening with Rubes but the information just got in and it's your case..."  
"Yeah, yeah, just drive and get me up to speed."  
"Okay, we got a call from Fitzy, they had followed Heath and a few other guys through the night and now they followed them to a warehouse, and a few minutes ago the car further down the road called about a couple of cars driving in that direction. They are expected any minute now."

Five minutes later they drove up next to Fitzy and Georgina who got them up to speed. Apparently there was six people in the warehouse, Heath, Mike and Sam from the Riverboys, Jake and Hammer Pirovich and one other bloke from their crew.  
She might have left the restaurant in a bad mood but it suddenly rose up high again, she hadn't been out on a bust since a few months before she left for overseas and the excitement got to her big time. She was ready to do this.  
They all spread out and surrounded the building trying to find another way in, she found a window that she managed to hoist herself through despite her height. Luckily for her it didn't make any sound even though the hinges were rusty, giving the impression that it hasn't been used in a while. She landed somewhat soundless on the floor in a closed up room with one way out, luckily there wasn't a door it was just a doorway so she could undetected sneak out in the hallway and walk around in the warehouse. She had her fun drawn but despite the fact she couldn't see anyone she had feeling in her gut that she was being watched, that she was not alone. She crept down a hallway that led deeper into the warehouse as she got to another doorway she could hear voices from the room.  
"Jack, I've got them. Far into the warehouse, it has several exits on either side. I think they all are in there."  
"Yeah I found it, I have Fitzy with me. How do you want to do this?"  
"We stor-" she was cut of by a blow to the back if her head that got her on her knees and her sight got blurrier and the walls were moving an the voices in the background moved further and further away. Someone grabbed her from behind and tugged her away from the room and dropped her unmercifully on the ground and then she heard the footsteps fade away.

When she came around someone had carried her outside and sat her on the ground by her car. There were a lot of people running around and bright lights everywhere. Even though the sun was still up and the air was hot she was cold, she pulled the blanket someone had put on her shoulders tighter and looked on as here colleagues pushed the gang members into the patrol cars. When they all drove off Jack kneeled before her and checked her out for any injuries.  
"What happened sweetie?"  
"I felt as if I was being watched the whole time and when I got to the room they struck me from behind and dragged me off. Next thing I know I was out here. "  
"Are you in pain?" And for the first time she actually considered her pain, it wasn't to bad her shoulders were a bit sore and there was a dull pain in her head but not to bad. All things considered she felt fine.  
"Nah, I'm fine. I just want to go home, I'll deal with the report tomorrow. Were you able to stick something on them?"

Jack shock his head and helped her stand up and walked her over to the car. You could see from miles away that he was frustrated.  
"Nothing, the whole building was clean and we can't pin someone to your attack either all six of them was in the room when we busted them. They are just going to claim that they were having a poker game or something. We can't get them for anything."  
"Well, we'll find something tomorrow. Right now, just get me home."

Brax's pov

He was standing on the balcony to the restaurant and watched Charlie sitting down on the beach in one of the sand dunes. The sun was on its way down making the whole scene look like something from a movie. Her slumped posture told him that she was down about something and he could only assume that it was about the bust he had been told about form Heath one he got out from the copshop. This was his window.  
Without thinking twice about it he went inside and grabbed two bears from behind the bar and walked out of the restaurant.

He was standing less then two feet away, yet to make his presences known, but something told him that she already knew he was standing there. But that didn't stop him from taking her in, looking her up and down. She was simply gorgeous in her light ripped jeans and oversized hoodie despite the tiered look that occupied her face.  
He took the last remaining steps so he was standing close enough to touch her.  
"Can I sit down, I come baring gifts!" He handed her the beer as she nodded and slumped down in the sand beside her. After she had taken a sip from hit she looked at him and offered him a weak smile and he could see her pained face.  
"Thank you I needed that."  
"Anytime, I am to please Beautiful!" He winked at her to suppress his true meaning of his words which earned him a punch but it seemed to make her hurt more then him. She winched back and brought up her another hand to massage her shoulder lightly.

"Are you hurt?"  
"Nah I'm okay."  
"Let me see!" He put down his beer in the sand and scooted closer to her, he tilted her head a little to the side to get better access. When he pushed away her hair and shirt he saw a big red print on base if her neck and shoulder, a print that would defiantly cause a bruise in the morning. "What happened?"  
He heard her sigh as she tried to pull up her shirt again but he wouldn't let her, instead he started tracing the print with the tips if his fingers as he waited for her to tell him and after a few seconds she did so reluctantly.  
"We were on a stake out and I was hit in the head from behind and dragged away. It's nothing serious but it's sore." He could feel the rage rise within him, she was hurt because of one of his own. They had laid a hand on her and now she was hurt. In the back of his mind a voice was feeling him that he shouldn't care but he did anyways. He leaned down and planted a kiss on the exposed skin, making her trembled under his touch.  
"Brax... Stop it" it didn't come out forcefully like he knew she probably intended it to, instead it came out more like a half moan, half whine and it went straight to his core. He loved the way she reacted to him and felt his presences.  
He trailed kisses up her neck till he reached her ear and he took her lobe between his teeth, nibbling on it slightly drawing out a low moan from her as she leaned in slightly towards him.

"Are you close with your brother Brax?" He froze in mid motion and looked up at her in surprise.  
"Who? Heath? Yeah I suppose in a way I am, he is the only family I've got."  
"What do you know about him and the Riverboys?"  
"What is this? Twenty questions? In that case shouldn't I be asking you too?" She sighed and turned so that she was sitting with her back towards the ocean, fully facing him.

"I just find it really hard to believe that a guy like you who is close to his brother and have a family like yours don't have a clue of what's going on. I'm not judging you, it's just that you live under the same house as Heath and you're guys are close, you have the same tattoos and all that, yet you've managed to stay straight and not him. I'm just having a hard time believing that."  
He took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye, he couldn't see any hidden agenda in her eyes, she actually looked generally interested which should be a good thing for him and he found that he actually wanted to open up to her.

"I used to be involved, when we were younger I was a riverboy too. Everyone came from messed up families so we looked out for each other. We surfed together, partied and every once in a while we did something stupid as breaking and entering. We were low on cash sometimes so I did what I had to to get us food when mom was to out of it and dad not around. But after a few years there came new people and they started to get involved with heavy things I wanted nothing to do with so I left, started working full time and by the time I was eighteen I moved out of home and took Casey with me, we stayed close but we were still out of the house. I tried to get Heath to come along but he didn't listen, he thought it was cool what they were doing, he was always easy to influence. So no I don't know anything, I live with him but I try to stay out of all off that. I've seen what it did to my dad, it's not what it want for me or Casey and someone's got to take care of him."  
He could see her smiling at and he was slightly confused. He looked questioningly at and she just shrugged and then it clicked.  
"You already knew all of this didn't you?" He said in an amused tone, why was he surprised? She was a cop, of course she would do a background check on him.  
"I knew that it stopped when you were young but not why. It was interesting to hear, I'm good at reading people and like I said you're not a bad person."

He grinned at her before he spun her around so that her back was towards him again. He brought his hands up to her shoulders again and started to massage her lightly, minding her bruises. He didn't know why he felt compelled to do this but he just needed to touch he in someway and this was as good as any.  
"So tell me beautiful, you're a hot detective who can surf, drinks bear and knows how to read people. Is there anything you can't do? Cause you're starting to sound too perfect" she laughed and he could feel how she started to relax under his touch and leaning back against his chest, putting he sweet scent right under his nose and he felt himself drifting away in his thoughts but her angelic voice brought him back to reality.  
"I can't cook, I'm horrible. The only thing I can do is pancakes, lasagna and home made pizza. How about you, what's your weakness?"  
He let his hands travel down her back until they reach her waist and slipped them under her shirt so he could caress her bare stomach, making her twitch in his arms. He leaned in close so that his lips almost touched her ear and his breath on her neck, making the hair in her neck rise.  
"I have little self control around you, do you know how hard it is for me not to take you right here?"  
"Brax don't!"  
"Charlie come on! Why are you fighting this? Stop pretending like that night in the city didn't happen. We had sex and it was good, we were good so stop fighting it! Please, you're driving me crazy, just let go"

She nodded reluctantly but relaxed back in his arms and he brought her in a little closer. It felt good to hold her, just as the time they had laid in bed he found that he didn't want to let go. He felt something he couldn't quite make out what it was, but he knew he was traveling on dangerous waters. If he weren't careful he might get burned, if she found out he was screwed and if he then felt something he was really screwed! No! He mentally shock his head. That was not going to happen, he was a pro, a con man. He knew how to act and build up walls, this was not real, he could fight it.


	6. Chapter 5 - The calm before the storm

**Hi guys! I'm sorry for the delay but I got stuck in the middle of this while I was trying to finish it, but anyhow here it is! This is more an in-between chapter to get things rolling but I hope you like it anyway! Read and review guys! XX Lexie**

Chapter five – The calm before the storm

Brax's pov

He was standing out in the summer heat somewhere out in the National park, watching as the boys loaded in the last bags of weed in the back of the truck but his mind wasn't in it. His mind was still in bed wrapped up in Charlie, her resting on his bare chest and their legs tangled under the sheets. It had been with great effort and a lot of texts from Heath that had gotten him to slide out from under Charlie and gotten out of bed to take a shower and get ready that morning. But as he got out of her ensuite showered and fully clothed he went over and lay down on the bed next to her once more and stroked her hair and face tenderly.

He knew right then and there that he was in too deep and that he should put some distance between them, he was the one falling for her right now and not the other way around. They had been together or what you could call them screwing every once in a while for about a month now but that's about it, they were stuck. She had yet to let him in and open up to him, to trust him, she was keeping him at a distance and that got him nowhere he was stuck at square one except more satisfied. And at this point he wasn't too sure if he wanted her to do so for him or for the boys.

The fact that he was standing here right now but was more focused on her then on the business at hand proved that something was wrong. He also found that he cared more about the restaurant itself than at it as a cover. But he fought it with everything he had, he would not accept the fact that he might be turning soft and acting like an actual human being. So with a shake of the head he cleared his mind of any thoughts of Charlie and got back to work. He ordered the boys where to go and where to dump the stuff, he made sure the area was clear of any traces that could lead back to them and that everyone got out of there before he drove off himself.

As he drove off thoughts of Charlie popped out again as he had nothing else to occupy his mind with at the moment. In an attempt to clear his head he took the long route home and then drove around town for a while but when he drove up on the driveway to the house his mind was still full of thoughts of his and Charlie's latest night together. Walking into the house and slamming the door behind him didn't help either, it got him an ugly look though from a newly woken up Kyle that was on his way out to work with a take away coffee in his hand. With a sigh he walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, hoping that it would relax him. As he waited for the water to heat up real warm he went out to his bedroom again and picked up his phone. He looked at Charlie's number in his contact list for a few seconds, debating with himself whether he should text her or not but decided not. He put it down on the bedside table and walked out of the room, feeling proud of himself, only to walk back in two seconds later and picking it up again and typing a message before hitting send.

**Are you busy? **_**  
I'm at work. But I get off in half an hour x  
**_**Good, I'll pick you up in an hour at your place. I'm taking you surfing.x **

Putting down the phone again he walked into the now steam-filled bathroom with a small smile on his face at the plan that had slowly formed in his head. He was going to take her to a secluded beach, cause she wouldn't want to go anywhere else, there he would charm and woo her to get inside her head just like she had done with him meanwhile he built up his own defenses. Then he would lay off for a few days and get her to come to him, that would be good not only for his intentions but also for his ego.

What felt like only felt like minutes of dreaming away and planning must have been a whole lot longer cause suddenly the steaming hot water was replaced by cold water that sent shivers up his spine. Once he was dressed and ready to go it had gone a little more than an hour so he ran out to his car and drove over to Charlie's place. As he drove up she was standing next to the curb waiting for him with her board and bag in hand. She threw her stuff in his trunk and the next thing he knew she was sitting in the passenger seat with a big smile adoring her gorgeous face that made her eyes lit up.

"What's got you smiling like a goof?" She shrugged her shoulders and kept the big smile on her face.  
"It's a good day that's all."  
"Is that so ay?" She nodded and leaned in a little closer while looking him straight in the eyes and the look in her made him want to take her back inside instead of what he had planned but he managed to contain himself.  
"First of I woke up full rested after an incredible night with this hunk of a man, then my daughter shouted me breakfast at the diner and then we made some progress with our case. And now the same hunk from last night is taking me away for day, it doesn't get better than that now does it?"  
"Sounds like a pretty good bloke I recon."

Their faces were now only inches away from each other and her familiar perfume went straight to his head. His gaze traveled from her soft lips, their touch was imprinted on his brain, to her blue eyes and back again like he was willing her to make that last move that would connect their mouths. After a few seconds of suspense she finally did and he could barely contain a contempt sigh from escaping his lips. He coaxed her lips apart slightly and let his tongue slip in between them. This was what he had been thinking of all day since he had left her bed this morning, he thought back to when they met and how he thought that one time would be enough and that he would be over it, but he was so wrong. She was like an addiction once you tasted her you only wanted more and every time you did the need would increase. She was a temptress.

He managed to control himself and found the strength somehow to reluctantly break their kiss and lean his forehead against hers as he watched her face threw half lidded eyes. She had this dreamy look in her face, her eyes were still closed and her lips were curled into a small, contempt smile.

"We have to stop or there won't be a hell of a lot of surfing done." Her smile widened a bit but her eyes remained closed.  
"Don't tempt me Mr. Braxton…" The way his name rolled of her tongue made him tense up in his seat and tried hard to think about something else.  
"Nah, the waves are too good to waste." He smirked as her eyes opened and she pulled away and gasped in mock hurt as her hand flew to her chest.  
"You wound me!"  
"Get over it Sweetheart!"

He threw her a cheeky grin that earned him a slap on the arm before he started the car and drove off, passing the town sign and turning out on the country roads that led them further and further away from town.

Charlie's pov

They drove in a tense yet comfortable silence, they didn't need to say anything they were content with just being with each other but they were both on edge with excitement of what this afternoon would hold. They shared secret smiles and heated gazes that were filled with promises, the sexual tension that filled the car could practically be cut with a knife.

She was sitting curled up in the passenger seat with her back leaning to the door and with her head resting against the leather seat. Brax focus was only at the road and she took this opportunity to watch him in peace. She never had the chance to do so otherwise, when she woke up he was either gone or already awake leaning on his elbow watching her and the rest of the day they were always had the run so she could never really take him in more than for a few seconds. So now she took her chance and studied him intensely, how his muscles in his arms would flex as he took them further down the road, how his face was sharp and defined yet soft and relaxed, how the sunrays hit his face and lit up his piercing grey eyes that with one heated look could make her crumble to the ground.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a large, strong hand caressing her bare thigh, following the path of the strong arm of the owner of the hand she was met by a slightly amused looking Brax.

"Where were you off to?"  
"Just enjoying the view" She said with a cheeky grin that earned her a squeeze to her thigh that made her squeal slightly with laughter and squirm in her seat. Brax laughed wholeheartedly next to her as she tried to pout and push his hand away but it managed to find its way back and stay put.

After another five minutes Brax finally turned off the main road and drove on a small gravel road that was nearly hidden behind all the trees and bushes, making it almost impossible to see from the road. She was slightly confused of why they would be driving into the woods when they were going surfing but she shrugged it off and just went along with whatever Brax had planned for them.

When the car finally stopped she was stunned by the breathtaking sight before her. They were parked on a small, deserted picnic area that was placed on top of a hill that was edging down to a small, empty beach that was totally surrounded by cliffs and sand dunes. It was heaven. She was totally enchanted by the view that she didn't notice Brax coming up behind her with their boards and her bag in hand and a smug grin on his face. His large hand found hers and their fingers entwined as he pulled her along down the path that led down the hill to the beach.  
"How did you find this place?!"

He dropped their boards into the sand and let go of her hand as he stated to take of his shirt so only stood before her in his boardies, showing of his god-looking body.  
"When I was younger and it got really ugly at home or later if I just had a rough time I would drive up and down the coast looking for a place to think. And one day I just had to get away or I would do something really stupid I found this place, so this is my safe house, this is where I run."

She felt a flutter erupt in her stomach as he told her this and at the fact that he would share this with her. She knew she shouldn't let him get to her but he was making it really difficult. The reason she insisted that they would keep "them" quite had nothing to do with her job and the Riverboys but simply the fact that if something would happen and they would get bored of each other it will be so much simpler if it was all just about emotionless sex. Plus she had this feeling in her gut, despite what he had told her, that something was not right and that something was off about him but that could also be the fact that she's suspicious of every man who came near her after Grant.

She looked away from his gaze and concentrated on getting ready. She could hear his sharp intake of breath as she pulled her dress over her head, as it came of her and she got her vision back she gulped at the look in his eyes. In two quick strides he was standing right in front of her and grabbed the dress from her hands and threw it down in the sand. Within seconds she was in his arms, their lips crushed against each other's in a passionate kiss. His one hand held the back of her neck to keep her face steady while his other was placed on her hips, pulling their bodies closer to one and other, her hands traveled up over his smooth chest and into his hair massaging his skull. The kiss was slow and gentle but yet filled with so much passion it made her toes curl in the sand. With one last peck on her lips he broke apart and leaned his forehead against hers as he looked at her through hooded eyes.

"You´re going to be the death of me, Charlie" He said in a hoarse whisper. He gave her a final peck and then he let go of her and picked up his board, leaving her slightly flustered. "Are you coming or what?"

They had spent nearly two hours surfing when she had had enough and paddled into shore to sunbath instead. She laid down on her towel and leaned on her elbows to look out over the water watching Brax as he was in his ace, after a few minutes she lay back down and closed her eyes just enjoying the warmth and she could feel sleep crawling on her. Just as she was about to dose off she was disturbed by the warmth being replaced with cold. She opened her eyes for a fraction of a second just to see Brax leaning over her on his elbows, with a groan she closed her eyes again and tried to push him off her but he wouldn't budge.  
"Am I that boring that you feel the need to fall asleep on me?"

"Get off me Brax, you're cold!" He leaned down closer so she could feel his entire body level with hers but he still held up his weight by the elbows.  
"I'm freezing and you're hot… in more ways than one."

She groaned once again and tried to move away from under him but he held her in place and she could feel his hot breath on her neck, it was soon replaced by warm openmouthed kisses that made her feel warm all over and made her forget all about the cold she had just felt.

"Braaa-x!" It came out as a moan but there was an underlying warning in it, she heard him sigh and then he moved off her and lay down next to her. She turned her head and opened her eyes and peered at him threw half lidded eyes, he was watching her right back with a small smile. He had been doing that all lot lately when they were together, smile that is, it wasn't his usual cocky smirk but an actually genuine smile.

"What?" She looked at him curiously and slightly intrigued but he just looked away sheepishly and shock his head.  
"Nothing" With that he stood up and towered over her and reached out his hand for her to grab. "Come on, we're going swimming."

Was he joking? She looked at him in astonishment and shock her head but took his hand anyway and let him pull her up. "You're serious?! You just got out."  
"I was born in the water baby, get used to it. Now come on!"

He tugged her into the water were they fooled around, teased and pushed each other around for a while before they decided to pack up and head home cause Brax had to go to work. The drive back to town was filled with teasing, laughing and from time to time normal conversation. She couldn't wipe the smile of her face and she couldn't stop laughing at his ridicules jokes, she had the most amazing day she could barely remember the last time she was this carefree as she was right now.  
He dropped her off outside Angelo's so that he could run right upstairs, as she was about to walk away after saying goodbye he stopped her and pulled her back. Just as he was about to kiss her she turned her head away and backed slightly.

"What?" He sighed and run a hand through his hair in frustration and took a step forward so he had her backed up against the car but he didn't touch her again. "Why are you so ashamed of being seen with me?"  
"I'm not ashamed Brax?!"  
"Then why won't you tell anybody about us huh?"  
"Are you serious, us doesn't even exists?! We agreed on casual and I don't see the point in exposing it if it's nothing serious, it has nothing to do with me being ashamed or not!" She looked him straight in the eye searching for some kind of protest but she only found resignation and defeat. He nodded slightly before leaning in quickly and pecking on her lips, catching her of guard and then he was off with a smile and a goodbye.

Brax's pov

He was standing on the balcony to the restaurant looking down at the beach as he was waiting for lunch hour to begin so he could open the restaurant. He followed a familiar figure as she ran carefree down the beach in tight yoga pants and a lose tank top. He had not seen her since their day at the beach, she had texted several times but he had always made some kind of excuse and she didn't even blink. It wasn't unusual for them not to meet up for a couple of days they were both busy but he had a really hard time restraining himself from going down to beach right now or drive over to her house to see her. But he was gonna stick to his game and wait for her to come running to him, he didn't see any point in wasting energy and time to chase after someone who didn't know that they wanted to be chased. So he waited for her to come to him when she had come to terms with the fact that she wanted him.

But it had been four days. Four days since he last touched her. He couldn't help it bur he missed her, he wanted to kick himself for being so stupid he knew it was dangerous, if she were ever to find out about his involvement with the Riverboys he was risking losing his heart. He would love for all of this to be his life, him owning a restaurant, living with Kyle and Casey, his girlfriend and his best friend being cops… But he knew that that could never happen, he was the leader of the Riverboys and his brother would never except he knew that much, he was as good as dead if that would happen and he couldn't convince Heath that the only reason he did it was for the information.

With a last look at Charlie before she disappeared from his sight he let out a frustrated sigh and turned around and walked back into the restaurant only to find Jack sitting at the bar looking at him funnily.  
"What's wrong with you mate? You seem tense." He just blew out a frustrated breath and walked around to the other side of the bar with a shake of the head and started to move things around that didn't need to be moved. "By that look on your face I would say that it's woman trouble."

"What the heck, are you a mind reader now or what?"

"No, you're just really obvious. So what's going on? You've been sulking around for the last few days."

"I met this chick in the city a couple of weeks back…"

"The one that you actually spent the night after you had slept together?"

"Yup that one, we been seeing each other since then every once in a while and I actually like her but she is stubborn and insist on keeping me in the shadows." Jack chocked on the water and spluttered it out all over the bar desk before turning double in laughter.  
"L-let me get this straight, she's keeping you as her dirty little secret? Haha this is priceless!"

"Shut your trout or I'll do it for you!" His face turned grim and his lips were super thin as Jack tried his best to hold in his laugh. Eventually he managed to calm down enough to string together a sentence.

"So what are you doing about it? What's the game plan?" He moves on from moving things around to wiping of the bar, which he had already done more than once. He ignores Jack's intense stare cause then he would only see Charlie's eyes and he was afraid that he would blurt it all out to Jack if he did.

"I've been ignoring her calls and waiting for her to come to me instead."

"Yeah? How's that working out for ya?"

"You think I would be standing here telling you all of this if it was going alright?"

"Sorry mate!"

Brax just nodded and turned to the next task, his head spinning full of thoughts and future plans. This was sure going to be a hell of a long day.

CxB CxB CxB CxB CxB CxB

He was exhausted and he was only halfway through the nightshift, he had deliberately kept himself busy all day and the restaurant had been swarming with people so there had been plenty to do. But despite all that he was not exhausted enough to get the voices in his head to shut up. One were nagging on him to throw everything to the wind and just go after Charlie, while the other was telling him to man up and become the coldhearted bastard he once used to be and just stick to the plan, and right now the later was more tempting.

He dragged three big black garbage bags out to the back and threw them in the container with a little bit more force than necessary, taking out a bit of frustration in the process. As he turned around the corner on his way back he slammed right into another body and by instinct his arms encircled when he felt the familiar petty frame. He held on a bit longer then he had to, making sure that she was steady before he let go of her and took a step back.

"Hi!" A small but warm smile spread across her face which made him smile slightly as well despite doing everything to contain it.  
"Hey!"  
"I haven't seen you in a while." He stuffed his hands in his back-pockets trying to block any emotions from showing in his eyes and ignoring the hopeful look in hers.  
"Yeah, I've been busy hey." His voice was cold and emotionless just as his eyes and he could see that it threw her off. Then all of the sudden her eyes filled with slightly with concern.

"What's wrong? Why haven't you picked up the phone?"

"Nothing's wrong, and why do you care? We're just screwing right?" He could almost see her winch at his comment and he regretted it almost immediately and wished he could take it back, but it was done now and it was what he would normally say.  
"Seriously, you´re throwing that in my face?! I was just concerned but I guess it was for nothing."

"You're words not mine. I've made it clear from the start that I like you and want more but you kept throwing that in my face and that-that kinda hurt, Charlie. So form now on you'll have to find a new guy to screw around cause I'm out detective." The hurt look on her face transformed into anger and something inside of him told him that that was not something he wanted to be on the other end of when she released it. But that was he defense mechanism, when she got hurt she countered with anger and then shut down instead of throwing hurtful things back like anny other woman in this world would do.

"Go to hell Mr. Braxton." With a sarcastic laugh and a shake of the head she walked past him, making sure she would not touch him at any time. He ran his hands threw his hair in frustration and slammed a fist in the concrete-wall. He really messed up, this was not the way it was supposed to go, he was supposed to play indifferent and not piss her off and then she would comply with him. But somehow he had let his anger and hurt get the better of him and he had gotten way to personal. He was screwed.

**Read, review, tell me what you think and ask any questions you might have, that makes it all so much more fun to write when you get response! xx**


	7. Chapter 6 - open windows

Chapter 6 – Open windows  
Charlie's pov

It has been almost a week since her fight with Brax and the despite the anger she felt towards him she somehow missed him, missed his husky voice when he would wake her up in the morning before either one of them had to sneak out, and she missed how they would tease and rile each other up while the other tried to play indifferent when they were around other people. But the anger was enough to keep her away, she had felt slightly guilty over how she had brushed him off after their day at the beach but the other day he had been so cold that all that guilt went away.

For the last few days she had done everything in her power to ignore him and trying to not be some place she knew he could be, she knew his schedule pretty well so her avoidance had been pretty easy. She had stopped going to Angelo's completely and if the station had ordered pizza she now got someone else to do it instead of picking it up herself. She only went to the Diner when she was absolutely sure he would not be popping in there and she tried to schedule her runs and surfing for a time when she knew he would be at work. But that didn't stop them from running into one and other every once in a while. Mostly it would be at the beach, she would come running just as he was on his way out of the water or the other one would run in as the other one ran out. Sometimes their gazes would meet, and she could've sworn she had seen a little bit of regret, but mostly she would avoid it and pretend she didn't see that it was him.

Right now she was lying frustrated in bed, looking every five seconds at the clock to see if it has moved only to see that it hasn't, as her thoughts were running threw her mind at high speed. She was angry, frustrated, slightly tired and incredibly horny. All these thoughts of Brax made her long for him even more and get even more frustrated.

The annoying red numbers on her clock showed her that it was a little past midnight and that she had to be up in a little less than six hours. She sighed and rolled over to her back and stared up at the celling, she knew very well that she wouldn't get much sleep tonight and that tomorrow would be hell. Sighing once more she turned so that her back was facing the window and the damn clock. She closed her eyes and just let the thoughts of Brax take her cause she knew it would be the only way she would even get just a little bit of sleep.

She let the breeze that came through the open window lull her to peace and after a few minutes she found herself utterly relaxed. Just as she was about to fall under the spell she heard some soft rustling and then she felt how the madras dipped, making her whole body tense. She could feel someone behind her but she didn't dare to turn around, she almost screamed as two arms sneaked around her waist to pull her closer to them and then she felt light kisses on her neck, then she knew exactly who it was.

"Brax, what are you doing here?!" She was supposed to sound annoyed but she only sounded tired as her voice was laced with sleep and got rid of all emotions. She moved out of his arms and turned around to face him. He looked tired as he lay there in his black work shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of worn out jeans but that didn't make him look less handsome. Her eyes softened when she saw how tired he was so tried to use a soft voice and hide her anger. "Are you insane? You scared the crap out of me! Wh-what – Why are you climbing in through my window in the middle of the night, why are you here?"

His hand come up to her face and stroked her cheek, she knew she should move away but she had missed his touch so she just leaned into it a little bit and let it be.  
"You're driving me crazy, Charlie! You're the most stubborn and independent woman I have ever come across. I've been trying to get you out of my head for over a week and trying to tell myself I don't want you, but hell that's the worst lie I have ever heard. You have found your way into my head and you won't leave, in the back of my mind I've been hoping that you would cave and come running all week but you didn't so… God I sound like freakin wuss don't I?"

She let out a laugh she had been holding in since he had started speaking, he was right he sounded ridicules so unlike him, he never talked about his feelings never the less declare his love or like for something. He glared playfully at her as she laughed and she tried her best to calm down, taking deep long breaths.

"I'm sorry, it's just you sounded so ridicules! But it was quite the speech, did you come up with it on your own?" He grinned, showing of his dimples, and leaned in closer and just as she thought he was about to kiss her he stopped and shock his head as his eyes looked down on her lips.

"Nah, I had help." He leaned over her so she had to lay on her back to be able to look at him. He towered over her with that stupid grin that told her he was up to something as he leaned on his arms to hold him up. She could feel the heat coming from his body and she almost moaned at the touch, she really did miss him more than she thought.  
"So if you didn't come up with it then who did?" He planted kisses down her neck until he found her sweet spot where he nibbled slightly with his teeth, making her bite her lip to contain her moan, the sensation and heat that was building up in her stomach made her forget for a few seconds what she had asked him. And that's when the mood killer came. He lifted his head back up from her neck and met her eyes, still wearing that shit-eating grin.

"Your brother!" She could feel how her eyes grew wide and if it wasn't for him pinning her down to the bed with his body weight she would've flown out of the bed like lightning. Her brother?! He had gone to her brother and talked about what he should do about her, was he crazy?! The grin was still present in his face and she knew it was because he was amused and enjoyed her reaction.

"Y-You went to my brother?! Why the hell would you go to my brother about this?!"

"Mostly because I knew it would piss you off and then because he walked in on me when I was frustrated and I just blurted it out, how I had me this chick and that my plan kind of back fired and I acted like a dick. So he told me to suck it up and go and apologize, so here I am. I'm sorry how I acted the other day, ay."

"It's okay." They just lay there quietly, enjoying being with each other again and every once in a while they would stroke the others cheek or touch them in some way as they looked in each other's eyes. Charlie was the one to break the silence.

"If I said I missed you, would you tease me for being a dork?"

"Are you kidding me, after what I just said?!" She laughed quietly and looked away from his face in slight embarrassment. "Well it's a good thing ay, cause I recon I've missed you too"

"What are we gonna do about it?"

"I can figure out a few things that doesn't require us to leave this bed." He had a big charming, boyish grin that could melt hearts on his face and she could feel how her resolve broke down as he leaned down to her face. When his lips touched hers she couldn't contain a moan from escaping her lips, the kiss was hard like he was trying to show her how much he missed her and feelings he couldn't put words on. It was bruising but it was perfect. His strong, work callused hands traveled down her side until it reached the hem of her silk sleepwear and slipped under the fabric to make contact with her bare skin, the touch was electric but just the feel of his strong touch on her skin made her feel safe and ready to let go.

She let her hands roam all over his body freely as his did on hers and before she knew it both of them were naked and all of their clothes were lying spread out over the floor. She felt as if her entire body was on flames, her breathing was ragged and her vision slightly blurry but she could still make out Brax's face and what expression he had. The emotions she felt inside was insane and intense, she felt as if she was about to explode, she didn't know if she was supposed to run away and hide or stay put.

When they both had found their relief and come down from their high they collapsed in a heap with silly looking smiles on their faces and for the first time in a really long time she felt happy and carefree without any worries at all. This was her fresh start.

Brax's pov

The morning after he had dreamt of sneaking into Charlie's bedroom to see her he woke up with a warm weight next to his body and a wonderful, familiar scent under his nose that almost drove him wild. He groaned and reluctantly opened his eyes only to see that the dream was not just a dream, it was reality and in his arms lay a naked Charlie fast asleep with a small smile on her face. He sure was one lucky bloke. He got so lost in his thoughts as he studied her face that he almost didn't notice her beginning to stir in her sleep. She moaned as she turned around and cuddled closer to his chest, he sensed her stiffen and then her blue eyes flew up in surprise, guess she was just as surprised as him to be waking up next to someone.

"Morning!" She relaxed back into his arms and her blue eyes traveled to met his and he could feel his chest tighten as a brilliant smile came across her face before she snuggled into the crock of his neck where she planted a kiss.

"This, I could get use to." Her fingers started to trace his _"__Blood and Sand__" _tattoo on his chest as he planted a kiss at the top of her head and he could only hum in agreement.

They lay like that in silence for almost an hour, sometimes they would talk a little about nothing but mostly they just lay there content with the silence and just holding each other. When the clock turned nine they could hear sounds coming from inside the house, indicating Ruby was up and that it was time to face the music. Either be turned down yet again and being forced to climb through the window or going through with the embarrassing task of meeting her as you were walking the walk of shame. He looked down at Charlie with hopeful eyes as he held his breath in waiting for her answer.

"So... how do you wanna do this? Do I get to take you out for breakfast or do I have to climb out the way I came?"

She closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them she looked anywhere but him, making him feel nervous as hell. His pulse was fast and his heart was beating had, he was pretty sure she could hear how hard it was beating from where she was laying on his chest. He needed this in and who knows, maybe he can ball it around so that nobody ever finds out his double intentions.

"You can take me out to breakfast through the front door. But I swear to god that if this is just some kind or revenge for ditching you or some sick "all about the chase" sort of stuff you will regret it! I'm not your usual fuck'em and dump them."

"Yes ma'm!" He spun them around so that he was on top with her pinned down under him as he let his hands wonder over the curves of her body and planting butterfly kisses on her neck. "As much as I love you naked you better get dressed or I'm never going to be able to let you leave this room long enough to take you out for breakfast."

"Brax!" She laughed and playfully hit him on the arm before gently pushing him of her so that she could put on a short, blue silky robe that made him think that naked or clothed didn't matter, if he didn't get them out of there soon they would never leave. With a sigh he got up and got dressed as she went into the bathroom to freshen up. As she came out of there she was wearing grey suit pants and a royal blue top tugged in by the waist of the pants, he sighed at sight cause he knew that meant she had to go into work.

"How long do I have you for?"

"Actually not at all, I should've been at work two hours ago but I got a text from Jack saying he got me covered until lunch, he recon I need the sleep and I guess he was right, that was the first good nights sleep I have had in a while."

"You've not been sleeping either ay?"

"You're not good for me Mr. Braxton, yo screw up my mind and put me on edge." She slowly crossed the room and walked over to him with a sly smile on her face, like she was stalking her pray and when she had her arms around his neck the smile turned playful.

"Then I recon we're even cause you kinda mess with my head as well." He closed up the remaining space between them and crushed her lips with his, making the most of it since it had been over a week since he had done it last and he couldn't help but grin as he remembered that he was now allowed to do it all the time when he saw her.

Fifteen minutes later they had told Ruby who just laughed at them and said that she already knew and were just waiting for them to get their head out if their arses and stop being so stubborn, no censor just straight forward just like her mom. And not five minutes later they were out the door, walking down the beach towards the diner. He had a firm grip on her hand as they were talking and teasing as well trying to ignore the onlookers who's jaws were in the sand at the strange sight. He almost had to laugh at their faces and if it wasn't looks of surprise it was looks of jealousy either directed to him or Charlie. As they were outside the diner he took a deep breath and braced himself for what's to come cause he could guess it would be overwhelming wether they would accept it or detest it.

When they walked through the door the diner was in full swing, everyone that had to go to work stopped by before they had to go in to get a cup of coffee and everyone who didn't had decided to have their breakfast out in the nice weather, so no one noticed them as they walked in together and went to stand in line. He leaned himself against a pillar-wall and then pulled Charlie into his chest, he savoured the feeling of being able to claim her and honestly he didn't want to let go of her afraid she would change her mind. But she didn't seem to mind at all she just tilted her head back so she could rest against him and her hands came up to his and he couldn't help but smile. A gasp and a squeal brought them out of their conversation and their own little bubble, when he turned he around he saw the blonde woman, Bianca, that Heath had brought home a few times until she woke up and became the responsible school teacher that she was. The blonde had her hands on her hips and a smirk in her face that was in league with his own.

"Well, well, Charlie Holden you little liar, I knew you were holding out on me. Is this the reason you've been so distracted and hot strung the last couple of days, he's keeping you up at night?" He couldn't help but laugh at the balls of the blonde woman and Charlie grew red in the face in embarrassment for a flash of a second before she composed herself and glared at Bianca.

"Something like that." She muttered as she looked anywhere but at him and grinned knowing that he had her trapped and leverage. It was finally their turn and they were met by a kind-smiling Irene cause Bianca had dragged Leah away with her and Martha to gush and gossip about them. As Irene went to get their orders he hugged her a bit tighter to gain her attention and when she turned around and gave him a sweet smile that made him grin wider.

"So you've been thinking about me ha?"

"What ever gave you that idea?" she chuckled and turned attention once more on the busy people in the kitchen, slaving away for their breakfast.

"So what Bianca just said was nothing then? Or did I make it up."

"You have a very interesting mind Mr. Braxton." She might have denied it but the secretive smile told him everything he needed to now. He had gotten under her skin just as much as she had gotten under his.

CxB CxB CxB CxB CxB CxB

After they had had breakfast Jack had approached them to pick up Charlie and as soon as he had seen him coming he had come into a rush to get away, leaving Charlie to deal with Jack on her own. Jack might be his best friend and he might have pretended that he thought Charlie wouldn't give him the light of day when he had flirted with her in front of him, but he knew that once he found out it was serious he wasn't above kicking his arse.

But as soon as he had left Charlie to go to the restaurant the second problem that had been troubling him for the past couple days resurfaced. While he had been with Charlie his mind had been occupied and he had been totally oblivious to anything else but now the reality caught up with him. Heath was getting impatient, and he had been hassling both Kyle and Casey. Kyle had done as he had told him and not gotten involved but Casey on the other hand he was not so sure of, he was easier to manipulate then Kyle and Heath knew that and used it to his advantage, he knew that that was the only thing that could get a good reaction out of him. Heath's impatiens had resulted in messier and slobbery work, giving the cops more to work on and he had to do something or at least know what the cops were up to so he could fix it.

With a frustrated sigh he entered the surf club and nodded to John Palmer in greeting before climbing up the stairs to the restaurant where he found Kyle and two other guys running around, setting the tables for the first shift. Looking so there was nothing for him to do he grabbed the books and locked himself in his office with an excuse to Kyle that he was doing the payments and didn't want to be disturbed. Once he was sitting in his chair by his desk he threw the books and papers on his desk and slung his feet right in top of it. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to concentrate but he knew that he had to get them in order so that he could get the rest of the money in.

He checked his phone for probably the millionth time this morning to see if there where a message from Heath, he had called him several times to see if everything was going okay but not once had that boonhead picked up and it was getting more and more frustrated. Just as he was about to call again there was an instant knocking on the door and he growled frustrated for whomever it was on the other side to go away but knocking never ceased. He ripped open the door ready to chop someone's head of when he came face to face to a somewhat stressed Jack. Great, just what he needed his best friend going all protective big brother on him, that he already knew he were.

"I'm not here about Charlie, we'll talk about that later. Right now you might want to get down to the station." The way he said it made him assume the worst, Heath had gotten caught and were in a big mess and that's why he had not been returning his phone call.

"What the heck has he done now to land him trouble?" He sighed and ran a hand frustrated over his face.

"Oh, it's not Heath! Well not totally and I'm pretty sure that a won't bother you too much... It's Casey mate." At the sound of his brother's name his body went cold, Heath had managed to get him in anyway. If Jack hadn't been there he would have punched down the door or made a big hole in the wall. "He says he hasn't done anything but it doesn't look good for him mate. He was in a car that was stopped on the high road, it had a lot of dope in it and the despite that Casey might not have had anything to do with it the judge won't see it that way. He's a Riverboy's brother who has had some trouble with the police and he is now caught in car with drugs, it doesn't get much clearer than that to them."

He didn't need to hear more, he let Jack lead the way out of the surf club and then he followed him in the car all the way to the station. Once in the building the place was swarming with people, he recognised one of the boys sister, another once mother and in the corner on a bench sat Heath with his elbows on his knees. He walked up and sat down next to him, doing his best to contain his anger to get a better chance to get a straight answer out of Heath. As he sat down Heath looked up at him with a slightly embarrassed and ashamed expression on his face.

"What the hell happened mate?"

"The boys were on their way to meet Jake and on they drove by Case on his way to school so they offered him a lift, then just a minute later the pigs showed up and started to go through the truck. They found the stash an-"

He didn't get further cause they were interrupted by a lot of noise coming from the entrance, but he didn't need him to continue he knew exactly what was happening when he turned his head to the entrance and saw more blue collars bring more of the boys in. They cops were going nuclear, this were their first big break and opportunity to pin something to some of them and get some of them off the street. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Charlie in her blue top running in and out of rooms with files in her hands looking mildly stressed but still comfortable and in her ace.

He didn't know how long he sat there until he was approached and told that he was allowed to come through and see Casey, because he was eighteen he didn't get an adult present while they were talking so he had no idea how bad he was in. He got into the room to see Charlie sitting with her back towards him with the files in front of her as she was talking quietly to Casey and Casey seemed to be listening intensively.

"Do you hear what I'm saying Casey? You're a good kid, you've come a long way don't mess that up by trying to impress the wrong brother. You have two other brothers who you should impress... Plus you have Ruby and I know for a fact that she's really impressed and likes you a lot." His eyes flew up to meet hers and looked happy and generally surprised.

"Really?!" A warm smile graced Charlie's face as she tapped the locket that was hanging around her neck.

"I have a very good source kid! Now get out of my interrogation room and don't let me see you here again!"

He nodded and almost jumped out of the chair and grabbed him on the way out, he barley managed to flash Charlie a grateful smile over his shoulder until Casey had pulled him out the door and the station. Once back at Angelo's he sent Casey in to help Kyle since he had already missed half the day at school, while he himself locked himself in the office again. He sat down in his chair again and propped up his feet before he dialled a familiar number and leaned back as he waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Charlie Holden!" Her soft voice rang in his ear and he found himself smiling like a goof.

"Thank you detective!"

"You're very welcome Mr. Braxton! But he was never in any real trouble, the guys in the car was very adamant that Casey had nothing to do with it, I don't know if it's you or Heath they're scared of but it sure worked."

"Yeah well what you said kept him grinning all the way back, he didn't even complain when I put him to work." He heard her laugh and it made something stir inside of him. "Nah but thank you though, for what you said to Casey! Heath has been trying to get to Kyle and Casey for a while, Kyle can take it and stand up to him but Casey... He's too soft. But I don't want that life for him but he wouldn't listen to me, but I think today really got to him, he needed to hear that someone else, beside his nagging brother, believe in him"

"You've done great with him Brax, he's a great kid that's right now just a tad unsure of what he can accomplish, he knows that he doesn't need to become Heath but at the same time Heath's trying to tell him otherwise. You just gotta keep nagging and he needs some kind of wake up call." He felt himself getting reassured by her words, she sounded so sure about what she was saying he couldn't do anything else then believe her.

"Speaking from experience are we?"

"I haven't always been a kick-ass cop, you know." Her laugh ringing through the phone.

"Oh don't I know it, no one can be that much of a bad ass by being a saint in her past life."

Charlie's pov

The sun was on its way down and her shift was finally over after a long day, all day she had been run of her feet. As soon as she got in two constable came into the station with the two Riverboys and Casey in tow, and from that moment on she had been running back and forth between her office and interrogation room to get papers and then more papers... She barley had time to take a break to get something to eat, they had been trying everything and reading through everything several times to get more evidence and patterns that could lead them somewhere, and it looks like it was paying of because their work got more slobbery then before and they were getting reckless.

So now she was finally going home, or home to her dad's. She hadn't hung out with him in ages and she kind of missed him so when he had asked her over for dinner there was no way she was going to say no. He was the best cook she knew, when she was younger it was her dad that cooked cause her mom couldn't even boil water, Martha and Georgia was lucky cause both Jack and Pete could cook. She however got her mother's genes on that one, she could make a few things she had to learn, other then that she was useless in the kitchen something they would always laugh about.

She parked the car and as soon as she got out of it she could smell the food and hear the music coming from the open windows and she could feel her mouth water, she was starving and she hadn't eaten proper food in days. As she walked up to the house she castes a quick glance next door where she could see Brax's car standing in the driveway and she couldn't stop the smile forming on her face. It felt surreal that he was now her... What? Her boyfriend? Maybe, but she just couldn't fit Brax and the word boyfriend together... It didn't seem macho enough for him... At least it was an upgrade from an extremely hot guy she was attracted to and slept with every now and then. It had felt so good to wake up with him and be able to go with him to the diner and not have to hide the fact that she didn't like him and wanted more. And the way he had held on to her possessively the whole time had made her cheeks hurt from smiling to much.

With a last look and a shake of the head she continued up towards the house, knowing she would be next door after dinner anyway if she was gonna take Brax's threat serious, that if she didn't come he would come next doors and drag her away. Opening the door and stepping inside she could hear voices over the music and slamming in the kitchen. At the yet to be set table sat Ruby doing her homework with earphones in to bloke out Beth and dad's music, which she couldn't blame her for it was really bad. She walked over to Ruby and planted a kiss on top of her head before proceeding into the kitchen where dad and Beth was joking around totally oblivious to the fact that someone just walked through their front door.

"You guys are lucky my profession is being a cop and not a burglar cause if it wasn't you wouldn't know what had hit ya!" Her father chuckled and put down the things he had in his hands to give her a hard hug and a kiss on her temple.

"Hi sweetie!"

"Hi!" She looked around the kitchen and almost laughed at all the food, there was enough food to feet an whole army. "What's with all the food? I might be starving for real food but I won't be able to eat that much!"

Beth laughed at her and turned he attention back to the pots that were placed on the stove. "We invited your brothers and Mattie, and with Mattie comes Ric, Alf, Roo and Romeo. Plus I think Rubes invited Casey too. So we set the table in the garden so your dad can keep the grill at the same time."

And at that she couldn't help but smile, she should've known. Never is a dinner at her father's place a small one, there's always extra people but that just makes it so much more fun. Knowing that she was happy that she didn't have to go in to work until the night shift, leaving her with a whole morning to sleep in after the night she was gonna have, cause they never rapped up early.

"You could invite Brax if you want to. I was kinda counting on it." Her father looked at her with an amused smirk on his face and she could feel her cheeks heating up, probably red as the tomatoes Beth was chopping up.

"So you heard about that ay? Should've known Ruby or Jack would tell ya, at least Pete knows how to keep his mouth shut."

"Oh they weren't the first to tell us, I found out from Alf this morning when I was opening the gym, he had heard it down the baitshop and Martha was quick on confirming it and Beth, she found out from Colleen this morning."

"I should've known I would become town gossip, don't they have anything better to do?" She groaned and buried her face in her father's side.

The dinner was fun, despite the fact that Brax didn't show despite her inviting him cause he had to go into work and fix a few things. Ruby, Casey and Romeo had their fun until uped and leaved, her dad, Beth, Alf and Roo talked about theirs, she was questioned about Brax by Martha, Mattie and Georgia that soon enough Roo and Beth joined in on. Jack, Pete and Rick talked about sport trying to seem uninterested in their conversation but she could see how they would listen intensely at times.

Now she was on her way around the back of Brax's house, why she had no idea, she just got a text from Brax saying to go to the back and he would have opened up for them. But when she got there the only thing that was opened was his bedroom window. Wait... Was he serious?! He wanted her to climb through the window as well? She walked up to it and peeked inside and there he was, laying on the bed that was facing the window with a smirk in his face.

"You're serious?! I thought we were over the whole window and sneaking in thing?"

"See I knew you would catch on, mo wonder you're a cop. And yes we are but I thought it would be fun to relive last night, plus I kinda forbid Kyle to have Tamara over because then they would never leave the house tomorrow and I kinda don't want them here, cause I got other plans." His smirk grew wider and more wicked if that was even possible.

"Is that so yeah?" He nodded and got out of the bed and looked at her pointedly, willing her to climb in so with a sigh and with as much dignity as possible she climbed in through the window quite gracefully. As both her feet touched the ground he was next to her in a flash and scooped her up and dropped unmercifully on the bed, making her bounce a little before he pinned her down with his body, his smirk not flattering one bit as he hovered over her and leered down.

"I believe I still haven't thanked you probably for what happened today."

"Is that so ay?" She brought her hand up and cupped his left cheek making him winch and pull away slightly. "Are you okay Brax, are you hurt?"

"I had a run in with Heath this evening and it turns out he's not to happy about me seeing a cop, let alone having you around the house. But don't worry about it, he's just whining he'll get over it soon enough." She nodded slightly but she still felt slightly guilt for causing trouble for Brax with his family. And as if he could read her thoughts he narrowed his eyes on her and then dove in and captured he lips in the most mind blowing kiss, making her forget all about Heath and everything else that swarmed around in her head and get totally lost in the heat of the moment.

**Hope you guys liked it! Sorry it took so long but it's slightly longer than the other once so I hope it's okay! Will try and update soon but I have a lot of assignment that's due at school so we'll see how much I can do! Until next time! **

**Xx Lexie **


	8. Chapter 7 - White as a ghost

Chapter 7 - White as a ghost

Charlie's pov

She walked through the hospital corridors with a somber feeling that was displayed on her face. This had been one hell of a nightshift. In the early hours of the morning she had been called out to a house where a party had been held just a few hours earlier. When she had arrived at the house she was met by five messed up teenagers, the girls make-up had run down their faces and the guys hair stood in every direction as if someone had run their hand through it too many times. Once she got inside a funky smell was brought to her nose, it was a mix between warm beer and something else. As she walked ino the livingroom she was met by a sight that almost brought tears to her eyes but she managed to contain herself. On the couch lay two girls totally out of it and on the floor below them lay a boy. You only had to take one look at them to know they were dead. Their eyes were wide open, it almost looked as if they were pleading for help.

After looking through the rest of the house to make sure there were no more she got the kids outside and called for backup. Soon the entire place was lit up and filled with people, it didn't take long until she was following the ambos to the hospital o wait for the doctors verdict. And after three coups of bad hospital coffee the bloodtests came back and confirmed their was the same thing that had caused several other kids in the area to die the last couple of weeks. So now she was on her way out to the waiting room to tell the parents the bad news of what happened to their kids and to hear the usual reactions. Some would say that that didn't sound like their kid and that she was lying, some would just cry and accept it while others would get angry and scream at her and walk away.

And as if that wasn't enough, her bosses were pestering her to make a break-through. But whoever was behind it was cleaver and barley left any traces, the only thing they could tell was that it was the same drugs that caused it, so it had to be the same people. Sure they had their suspicions and somethings that led them to believe that it was either the Riverboys or Jake Pirovic's gang, it was common knowledge but they couldn't prove it or get anything solid. So all they could do was pressure them and hope they would eventually slip up.

As she walked through the backdoor she almost ran into Ruby who was running around the house collecting her things for school.

"Hi Baby!"

"Hi mom! Are you okay?" She kicked if her workheels and threw them into her room through her open bedroom were her bed was visible and teasing her.

"Rough night is all, a couple of kids OD again... Not the easiest to deal with at the end of a long nightshift. So how are you? Everything under control right?" Ruby rolled her eyes at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek."

"I'm fine mom, now go to sleep you have the whole house to yourself all day cause we have a field-trip."

"Okay, I'm off tomorrow so how about you skip school and we hang out, just you and me?"

"I'd love that! But I can't believe that you're suggesting that I skip school?" Her face had an amused expression, almost mocking, making Charlie swat her on the arm with the back of her hand lightly.

"Don't get used to it Brat, I just miss you!" She had to stifle a yawn but without luck, giving Ruby the hint that right now was not the time to discus things with her mother.

"Go to sleep that's an order and don't make me call Pete!"

With another kiss to her cheek Ruby picked up her bag and walked out the door. Doing what Ruby told her to do was really tempting but her stomach was screaming for food. So she walked into her room and changed out of her work-clothes to a pair of black tights and a teal blouse with thin straps that hung loosely around her body. pulling out the rubber-band that held up her hair in a ponytail and sticking her feet in a pair of flopps she was ready to go.

Lucky for her as she arrived at the Diner she had just missed the morning rush so she didn't have to push around with the others. She found a table in the far corner of the room where she was a little sheltered from the rest which worked perfectly with her.

"Hi Charlie, what can I get ya?" She looked up from her paper and found Roo standing next to her with a smile and a notepad in hand.

"A coffee, fruitsalad and a muffin."

"Are you okay? You look worn."

"I'm fine, just got of work that's all."

She nodded her head and offered a smile before she left her to her paper. But she found that she couldn't concentrate on any of the words. So instead she closed it and leaned her forehead in the palm of her hand and closed her eyes again. The next tom she felt someones presence she also felt two strong hands squeezing her shoulders and then a kiss was planted on her temple.

"Hey Beautiful, why are you here?" She looked up and was met by those grey eyes that could drive her to the brink of insanity. She sent him a cheeky smile before turning to Roo who brought over her breakfast.

"Well a girl has to eat and I certainly wasn't gonna cook."

"You could've come up to me."

"Well you don't serve breakfast,now do you?" He placed on of his hands on the back of her chair and the other in front of her on the table, caging her in and leaned in closer with a daring smirk on his face.

"So...? I think I could've made an exception for my gorgeous girlfriend, plus it would've meant I got to see you and experience your exceptional wit."

"My, my aren't we charming this morning!" He frowned, his eyes watched her face intensely and his face turned troubled.

"Well I'm afraid this isn't gonna sound quite as charming but you look like shit babe." She groaned and threw her head back in exasperation.

"God, you're like he millionth person who's told me that!"

"Well maybe you should listen to them. I heard on the news, I'm sorry. Your bosses can't be happy."

"That's the understatement of the century." She looked down and started to pick on her fruit, avoiding his gaze. she heard him sigh then his hands grabbed hers to make her stop and then he pulled her out off her chair and into his arms.

"Come on, I'm taking you home. No arguments."

When they got home to her empty house he crawled into bed with he, lying on his side, running his fingers up and down her back as she lay on her stomach with her head on the pillow turned towards him. They lay content in silence, just watching each other and enjoying their time together. Despite her insisting that he should go back to work and that he didn't have to stay with her he refused, and despite him telling her to go to sleep she was still awake.

She was still overwhelmed with emotions that she couldn't describe. Had it been a few months earlier she would've probably freaked out and run miles but now... how she felt happy and incredibly warm and safe, suddenly the prospect of falling for Brax wasn't so scary anymore. She decided right there and then that she would just go with it, this feeling was worth taking a risk.

But despite her great effort to stay awake her exhaustion got the upper hand and the strokes on her back lulled her to sleep. But she woke up a few hours later by the be moving under her, caused by Brax crawling out of the bed.

"Hey, sneaking out on me are you?"

Her voice was laced with sleep and her eyes were only cracks but she could still make out him in the darkness of her bedroom. He laughed at her and leaned down and kissed her.

"No, but I need to get back to the restaurant and let in all the hungry lunchers and you needed your sleep. So go back to sleep and come se me tonight."

"Noway, I'm up now. I'm awake." She sat up straight in the bed and leaned against the headboard while smiling at him as he walked over to her side of the bed.

"Go to sleep you stubborn woman, I don't want you to run into the ground before I get to take you out on a proper date."

"Wow, who new the though guy was actually a real softy and romantic? Plus if I go to sleep again I won't be able to sleep tonight and get back into a normal rhythm."

"Oh yeah, I'm a real teddybear. Okay fine, but then I get to treat you tonight."

"You're impossible, don't you have work or something?" He grinned at her cheekily and leaned down with his hands on the bed on either side of her, making her feel his hot breath on her face and butterflies erupted in her stomach.

"I do, but Kyle wanted extra shifts so that he can go on some roadtrip with his friends so who am I to complain when I get the night off?"

"Fine I'll meet ya when you get off!"

"Perfect!" His lips touched hers in a short but hard kiss that took her breath away before he got up and left the room, leaving her behind slightly breathless and a grin on her

Brax's pov

As soon as he left Charlie's place and gotten into his car he pulled up his phone and dialled Heath's number and as usual the idiot didn't pick up until he had tried three times and wouldn't listen to a word he had to say. They had gotten lucky last time when they cops and stopped the car Casey had been in, it was pure dum luck that that was the last set of those drugs they had in store and that it was not the same stuff that all teenagers had OD on. He wasn't stupid, it was their stuff, the kids had come from their area and not Pirovic's, and now they had the coppers really on their arses, they wouldn't give up until they had something if the pressure Charlie was under from her bosses was any indication.

He drove home once he found out that it was there Heath were and knowing that Casey and Kyle was out. Once he got there he stormed into the house and slammed the front door behind him, startling Heath that was laying on the couch watching football and he couldn't help himself from smacking him on the back of the head.

"What the hell is your problem man?"

"My problem? My problem is that you're laying her on your lazy as when you should be out making sure that the boys don't screw up like you're supposed to!" He went into the kitchen and grabbed a bear from the fridge, despite the fact the it had just reach noon. "The cops is all over this, all the kids that has OD has made the cops more determined to find something to pin on us, you saw what happened last week, they stopped the boys just to see if they could get something and they did. We need to lay low."

Heath glared at him, his anger already skyhigh because of his short temper, Brax had not only complained about him he had also tried to tell him what to do and that was just something you didn't do to Heath. He was like a teenager, if he didn't want the same thing he never did as he was told then he always did the exact opposite. The look in his eyes could kill and he was close to snapping.

"What? Where did you get all this, your pig-girlfriend?"

"Get off it Heath, I'm doing it to save your ass! So we're keeping it low-key until I say anything else cause I sure as hell has no intention on going to jail, and that's what's going to happen if we don't do something. So we stay low, do you get that?" Heath nodded but still had a grim look on his face as he got off the sofa and walked out of the house, grabbing his board on the way out.

Brax put his bear down as a sigh of frustration escaped his lips, he ran a hand down his face and just stared at the wall in front of him. He knew there was noway in hell he was going to be able to keep Heath inline, he would rebel and until he himself got caught he wouldn't stop and that was what scared him. Heath getting caught could lead to so many things that he had no idea how he was going to get them out of, if Heath got caught the chance that they all would go down was pretty big.

As he was thinking about consequences of what might happen his mind drifted of to Charlie, which he noticed he had done a lot lately, people had been talking to him and she would walk by and he was gone. He was getting more and more worried about how she would react and how it would effect them if she found out about him, his guesses and nightmares weren't that pretty, he knew he was screwed and that they would be over if that ever happened. Even if he had come to terms with his feelings for her and that it wasn't good for him to get attached, which he ignored, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit scared for what he was feeling.

It was intense and the more time that past the more he knew that he would break if it didn't work out between them, he was taking a huge gamble her with a lot at stake. It was a gamble that he would lose either way, either he would lose the family he had since he was a kid or, despite sounding cheesy, he would lose his heart, there was noway he could win. But at this point his heart was weighing a little heavier then his family and that was what freaked him out. He was scared what he would do if it stood between choosing the guys or Charlie. He was doing everything he could to cover their asses, he was telling himself that it was for the boys sake they were laying low but the truth it was to make sure Charlie never found out.

After bumming around the house for a while he finally went to work as he was supposed to, but there he wasn't much help. He was distracted and not really there, he went on autopilot and not really registering what anyone told him. All he could think about was a way to stop Heath and trying to stay out of jail but it was proving rather difficult. So instead of running around and getting in the way of people he took a break and went down stairs to the gym where he had seen Jack enter earlier, he found him by the punching-bag punching it with a great enthusiasm, he looked more distraught then he felt.

"Mate, what's wrong with you?"

He sighed and stopped the punching and started to fix with his gloves without looking at him.

"Me and Martha had a fight so I came here to blow off some steam so I can go and talk to her without saying something I will regret later." At that Brax couldn't help but chuckle, Jack and Martha always had some quarrels but it got solved just as quickly as it started. Sometime he envied how easy some people had it, like now, he would do anything to just be fighting with his girlfriend or whatever instead of having to deal with life and death matters.

"So what's up with you, cause I'm pretty sure you didn't come here to make sure I was alright."

"Nah, just a lot going around and it's doing my head in."

"Yeah, like what?" He picked up his water bottle and towel and moved over to one of the machines making Brax follow him over.

"What do you think? Heath, he keeps getting into trouble and I'm having a hard time keeping Case out of it, at the same time as I try to keep Heath in line but he has a mind of his own."

"Yeah, siblings can be difficult. Heck living with Pete and Charles for most of my life have given me some experience and then Beth's kids at that, there's always some drama going around."

"Yeah..."

He just stood there in silence not really watching Jack, but just stared blank in front of him until he heard some sort of commotion by the entrance and through the archway came Charlie with tears streaming down her face and a terrified look in her eyes, she looked scared to death. He was just about to push off the wall and go over to her went she. Let out a sob that made his chest tighten.

"Dad!" She looked franticly around her in search of Tony who came rushing out of his office as he had heard her calling for him, and as soon as he saw her it was like he understood the only reason that could've caused that look in Charlie's eyes that he had never seen before. Within a second she was sobbing in her dad's embrace and Jack was soon there too, having a silent conversation with their dad and he was soon running out the door with Brax on his tail. As they got out of the surf club Jack looked around as if he was looking for someone and not really sure whee to begin or what he would do exactly once he found them.

"Mate what's going on?!" Jack looked as if he could kill someone and he wouldn't stop looking around him as he answered.

"I'm not sure but I'm sure as hell going to find out." And that's when Jack froze and his eyes zeroed in on a woman who stood leaning against the fence looking out over the ocean, he strode over there with long, determined steps. As he reached the woman he grabbed her arm and spun her around, startling her but she soon recover and got a malicious smirk on her face.

"What the hell are you playing at?! You. Stay. Away. From. Her. Got it? You and your husband has caused enough damage already and soon enough your husband will be out away for life and out of ours, and I suggest you do the same before I do something you will regret." Not once during Jack's threat did her smirk falter it was almost as if it grew for every word he said. He himself, who he counted as a bad as there weren't a lot that scared him but the look on Jack's face and the tone in his voice sent shivers up his spine and he was happy that the anger wasn't aimed towards him.

"Are you threatening me sergeant?" She took a step forward so that where only a few centimetres between them. She had a wedding-ring on her finger and she looked to be between thirty and forty, damn he had never seen someone that "old" with as much brass at she had, even less so a chick.

"Damn straight I am. And don't think I won't go through with it! You threaten my family, my sister then there's no limit of what I would go through and it would be wise for you to remember that I have a better position then you do right now!"

"Whatever you say Holden. You tell Charlie that this isn't over, we won't give up. Her lies are not going to define the rest of ours and our kids life." And with that she picked up her bag from the ground and brushed past him. Jack threw a punch in the air and leaned over the French with his head in his hands trying to calm his breathing. He walked up next to him and leaned on the fence to and just standing there in silence for a few seconds before he dared to speak.

"What the hell is going on and who is that chick?"

"A ghost from the past who we thought we had gotten rid of for good but it seems as if they haven't ruined our family enough..." He straightened up and turned his face to him and he could see the same pained and hunted look in his eyes that he had seen in Charlie's just moments before. "That woman is Mellie Grant and her husband is Ruby's father, we thought we had seen the last of him 18 years ago when he disappeared but for about almost a year one he showed up again out of nowhere and stirred problem for Charlie and Rubes once again, Charlie hasn't been the same since."

Charlie's pov

After Brax had left she had laid in bed not really doing anything for almost a good hour, she just lay there and looked out the window dreaming away and whatever it was that she was thinking of graced her face with a warm smile. But after a while she decided to get out of bed and get something to eat before going out for a surf, considering that she didn't get to eat much of her breakfast this morning. After finding something quick to eat in the fridge she changed and of she went, the waves looked great and very promising so without further ado she pulled of her dress and ran out to the water with he board under her arm.

Every once in a while she would just sit on her board and float around for a few minutes as she watched all the other people on the beach. It wasn't too crowded considering it was a week-day and everyone was at school or work but there was still a crowed of people who wee lucky enough to get the day off. She could see school kids coming out of the diner in groups with their bag packs on as they were on their way back to school after having lunch, moms running around after small kids that were running in and out of the water and up and down the beach, it was just a normal day in Summer bay and normal was just what she needed. After what she believed must be over an hour she caught one last wave and rode it into shore were she dug the nose of the board in the sand and started to dry of with her towel.

"Living the life and enjoying ourselves are we?"

The familiar drawl of a voice came from behind her and her blood turned ice-cold and she froze to the spot. That was one of the many voice that had shunted her for almost a year now and it was one of the reasons she took of for six months to travel the world and leave her daughter behind. She hugged the towel close to her chest like a safety blanket and slowly turned around to the person the voice belonged to.

"Mellie" it came out as a breath that caught in her throat, it was even more scarier to face her then to just hear her voice. Mellie's face was a picture perfect of a mix of hate and vengeance, and she feared that it was all directed to her. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

A sneer formed on Mellie's face as she took two steps closer towards her making Charlie shrug back a little, which made Mellie smirk knowing that she was scared.

"I'm here to make you see sense and make you drop your silly accusations so that my husband can come back home it his kids."

"Are you out of your mind?! He got away eighteen years ago but not this time around, I handled it back then cause it was just me he attacked but this time he interfered with my daughter and that is something I won't let him do ever again."

Mellie let out a loud laugh but it wasn't a happy or this was funny laugh, it was malicious and it scared the crisp out of her, making her take a step back.

"You seem to forget that she is his daughter too and that he have every right-"

"HE HAS NO RIGHT!" The anger flared up in her within the second, mention Grant and Ruby and saying that they had some sort of relationship or trying it justify what he did was the inky thing that could make her see red. "He hurt me and then wouldn't acknowledge me or her once she was born, so he has no right what so ever to come into our life now trying to be a "parent" so that he can get to us! There's no way in hell I'm letting either of near my daughter!"

"Of course he wouldn't acknowledge you he was just fifteen and scared that his girlfriend was pregnant he didn't have a choice but he came back trying to justify it and you sent him of to prison with your lies!"

"I had just turned fourteen and he forced himself on me because I weren't ready, he would've done the exact same thing to you if you had refused him! And he came back with a gun threatening both me and my daughter, of course I sent him of to jail! I was fourteen and in love and so, so utterly stupid, I trusted him and he took advantage of that"

"He didn't do anything you stupid Bint!" Her face was filled with pure rage and she stood so close that their noses almost touched each other and she could feel her breath panting on her face. "He's going to jail because of your lies, I lost my husband and my children lost their father. And it's all your fault! So don't you dare think it's over!" With that she turned around and stalked up the beach and as soon as she was out of sight Charlie felt all the walls and all the facade she had out up in front of Mellie coming crumpling down.

She quickly rummaged through her bag until she found her phone and quickly dialled Pete's number while breathing heavily as she could feel the sonic rising within her.

"Pete it's me, I need you to go and pick up Ruby!... I can't explain right now just do it!"

As soon as she hung up she brought a hand up to her mouth to cover a heartbreaking sob that came from deep within. She couldn't think clearly all she wanted was to see her dad so she pulled on her dress and ran up the beach and into the surf club as the tears kept streaming down her face and her breathing ragged. As soon as she entered the gym she called out for her dad, she didn't even register anyone else in the gym, all that excited to her was the fear that was eating her up from the inside and the need to be comforted by her dad and feel safe. He came out of nowhere and as soon as their eyes met she was in his arms crying her heart out as he stroked her hair. She could feel someone else coming up behind her and distant voices, soon their was a lot of rustling and steps that were growing fainter and fainter.

Once she calmed down she came up from her father's chest and dried the remaining tears on her face and took a deep breath before turning to meet her father's gaze.

"It's never gonna be over is it? I thought, I thought it was all over and done with when they finally caught him and I saw them haul him inside that cop car. I thought I could move on with my life and be happy now that he was out of it, but somehow he still manages to find a way to get to me!"

"I know sweetheart but he's not going to get to you this time, I won't let him break you. He has hurt my family for the last time, I swear to you!" His eyes was gentle but his voice was stern and determined, making her feel protected and believe every word of it.

They were woken up from their little world by Charlie's cellphone ringtone coming from her bag. "Hello?"

"Mom! What's going on?! Pete showed up at aquarium saying that you had called him to pick me up?"

"Baby listen to me! You go with Pete and stay there till I come and get you okay? I promise I will explain everything then but just please do as Pete says!" Ruby most have heard the desperation in her voice cause her voice softened and only said okay.

"Are you okay mom?" Her voice was small as she spoke after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah, of course! I'll see you soon yeah?" And with that's she hung up and sat down on one of the empty machines and buried her face in her hands.

**This was originally supposed to be longer but I figured since I haven't updated in a while I could just make it into to two separate chapters instead. Hope you guys liked it, I will try and finish the second part soon enough, maybe even before this weekend ends who knows? Please, let me know what you guys think! Xx Lexie **


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